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Fake News in the Sahel: “Afrancaux News,” French Counterterrorism, and the Logics of User-Generated Media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2022

Matthew Kirwin ,
Lassane Ouedraogo Open the ORCID record for Lassane Ouedraogo [Opens in a new window]  and
Jason Warner
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Abstract

Studies of fake news have historically suffered from being primarily Western-centric and focusing on “news” emanating from formal media outlets. The Sahel has generated its own unique version of fake news, the authors refer to as Afrancaux News. Using nationwide public opinion surveys in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, open-source online forum ethnographic research, and postcolonial epistemological predispositions, the authors suggest that although other historical instantiations exist, the most prominent contemporary example of Afrancaux News can be seen in the fake news stories related to the French counterterrorism presence in the Sahel.

Résumé

Résumé

Les études sur les fausses nouvelles ont historiquement souffert d’être principalement centrées sur l’Occident et de se concentrer sur les « Nouvelles » émanant des médias officiels. Le Sahel a généré sa propre version des fausses nouvelles, que les auteurs appellent Afrancaux News. En utilisant des enquêtes d’opinion publique à l’échelle nationales au Burkina Faso, au Mali et au Niger, une recherche ethnographique sur les forums en ligne à source ouverte et des prédispositions épistémologiques postcoloniales, les auteurs suggèrent que, bien que d’autres instanciations historiques existent, l’exemple contemporain le plus important d’Afrancaux News peut être vu dans l’histoire des fausses nouvelles liées à la présence française de lutte contre-terrorisme dans le Sahel.

Resumo

Resumo

Ao longo dos tempos, os estudos sobre as fake news (falas notícias) têm sofrido de um viés centrado no Ocidente, com enfoque sobretudo em “notícias” provenientes de órgãos de comunicação formais. A região do Sahel criou a sua versão muito própria de fake news, que os autores do presente artigo denominaram “Afrancaux News”. Com recurso a inquéritos nacionais de opinião pública realizados no Burkina Faso, no Mali e no Níger, a fóruns de investigação etnográfica online e de acesso livre e às tendências epistemológicas pós-coloniais, os autores sugerem que, apesar de haver outras consubstanciações históricas, o exemplo contemporâneo mais evidente de “Afrancaux News” pode ser encontrado nas falsas notícias relacionadas com a presença do contraterrorismo francês na região do Sahel.

Keywords

fake news“Afrancaux News”SahelFrancesocial justicecounterterrorism
Type
Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 65 , Issue 4 , December 2022 , pp. 911 - 938
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the African Studies Association

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