Researched by Alfa Shaban
The rollback of democracy across the Sahel and West Africa continues to show genuine proof of how information disorder can be weaponised to sow mistrust in institutions and sway public opinion.
This is evident in several election-related information disorder operations that have been reported in the last few years in the wider Sub-Saharan Africa region, and more particularly in the coup-prone West Africa sub-region.
From the misinformation operations during South Africa’s 2024 polls, misinformation targeted at the election management body during Ghana’s 2024 general elections, to the faux coup in the Ivory Coast in July 2025 and later in October, the case of misinformation before and during Cameroon’s presidential elections, the level of sophistication of these operations continues to evolve.
According to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies’ (ACSS) March 2024 report titled, ‘Mapping a Surge of Disinformation in Africa,’: “Disinformation campaigns seeking to manipulate African information systems have surged nearly fourfold since 2022, triggering destabilizing and antidemocratic consequences.”
The report further emphasises the role that social media plays in these anti-democratic processes, stating how the increasing reliance on social media for news across Africa is fueling the boom in these campaigns.
Richard Kumadoe, a Fraud Prevention Expert and Security Intelligence Consultant who is the team lead at Democracy and Governance-Risk, emphasized the grave threat that information disorder poses to African democracies:
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“Various researches have indicated that, the threat of mis/disinformation and activities of threat actors is real across many parts of Africa; meaning, adverse effects and negative impacts of such nefarious activities is having grave consequences on almost everybody living on the African continent. A threat that has become a major source of worry for many African leaders and their government.”
Genesis of the December 7 failed coup in Benin
The events of December 7, 2025, in Benin, where a military coup was reported in the early hours of the day, presented a classic playbook of how information disorder can be exploited and used to attempt to weaken democratic processes.
The alleged mutiny was thwarted by the army with aerial support from Nigeria’s Air Force, yet, during and long after the mutiny was declared over, even via a presidential address in the evening, actors on social media continued to circulate false information, even as authorities raced to quash the claims.
In this piece, GhanaFact investigated cases of misinformation as played out on social media platforms.
1. Kenya TikTok video circulated as a pro-coup march
A video shared by an X user, hours after the coup was reported, alleged that a section of the population had hit the streets to support the military. The 13-second video showed civilians escorting a military pickup full of masked armed soldiers.
The video had a caption that read: “Benin 07.012.25 / 13:31” denoting the place, date and time the video was ostensibly taken. The post also had a French caption, which translates: “The Beninese people have stormed the main thoroughfares of the capital Cotonou to support the military.”
The post had been viewed over 159,000 times with 113 comments, 375 reposts and 1,300 likes.
We verified the video to ascertain its origin.
GhanaFact’s first tracing clue from the video was a TikTok username that appeared at the bottom right corner of the 13-second video, KATARON (@mtemiwababutangi). We found the following:
- The video was first posted on TikTok on October 16, 2025.
- It was shot in a part of the Kenyan capital during a procession for former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, whose body had been returned from India, where he died.
- The waving of leafy branches by people in the shot aligns with similar footage during Raila’s funeral (here, here, here)
- A building on the other side of the street had an “Artcaffe” inscription; the company’s only known operations are in Kenya.
- In the comments section, the poster responded to a Swahili comment asking where the video was shot, and he responded “near Kasarani” – the stadium where Raila’s body was first sent to.
Verdict
The claim that the video was shot in Benin is False.
Further analysis by GhanaFact of the original video showed that it gained significant traction since December 7, 2025, with three million views and a spike in the number of comments.
Our checks showed that a number of the commenters were making Benin-related comments about the video despite it being totally unrelated.
“Long live Africa, long live the Beninese soldiers,” one commenter said. “We will come and support the soldiers of Benin from Niger,” and “The coup d’etat in Benin has been confirmed,” others commented on December 7.
2. Photo of alleged pro-coup protests
Aside from videos, images of supposed pro-coup protests in Cotonou were shared online by some accounts. One such account shared a collage of two images showing protesters with a caption that suggested they were young people who supported the military takeover.
GhanaFact ran the images through Google’s Reverse Image Search tool. We traced the first image to a protest in Benin against the Talon government. The BBC Afrique used the said image in a 2018 article. The second image was also traced to a YouTube video of another protest against the government in 2018 shared by the Africa24 channel.
3. Fake flyer targeting the Foreign Affairs Ministry
The coup announcement by Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri was made via the Benin national TV channel, among others, announcing the removal of the President, the closure of all borders and the formation of an interim government.
It wasn’t long before a purported initial statement from the junta was published on social media platforms announcing interim measures. The statement shows the Beninese coat of arms and the social media handles of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The Ministry’s official X handle subsequently published a disclaimer on the alleged statement with a fake label on it. “Let us be responsible in what we communicate and share,” the caption stated in part, adding that information from only the government should be trusted.
4. AI-generated images
GhanaFact also observed the use of AI images. One being an image of President Talon in handcuffs being led away by two policemen. While the President was not seen hours after the incident, he appeared later in the evening to address the nation on the failed coup.
President Talon was the second government official to speak after his interior minister had earlier in the day confirmed that an attempt to overthrow the government had been thwarted by forces loyal to the Republic.
A Nigerian portal subsequently published an image purporting to be of some of the coup makers behind bars after they were arrested. The image was circulated at a time when the government had not released any details on the whereabouts of the rogue officers.
GhanaFact ran the images through Google’s AI detection platform, Google SynthID Detector, and it returned a result that portions of both images were developed using AI.
5. France dispels fake news around asylum seekers in its embassy
Reports online suggested that some officials of President Patrice Talon’s government had sought asylum in the French Embassy in Cotonou during the coup.
This claim was dispelled by a social media post from the official account of the French Foreign Affairs ministry spokesperson, Pascal Confavreux.
A translation of his post read: “#Benin: Allegations suggest that Beninese authorities have sought refuge at the French Embassy in Cotonou. None of this is true. We formally deny it. And we are closely monitoring the situation. We have urged French nationals to remain confined in their home.”
In all the instances of information disorder analyzed above, it is evident that they are being perpetrated on one social media platform or the other. Kumadoe notes this trend and warns of the danger thereof: “Social media platforms have become available more, and evasive characters have developed and evolved themselves and their negative usage activities to deliberately denigrate and create misrepresentation of facts, especially social media users with huge followers have become a source and they can become or have become a suitable conduits for purposes of mis/disinformation across many cities in Africa, hence, the securiiry risk it poses to African Governments.”
Government moves to combat misinformation via WhatsApp
The Benin government has created a WhatsApp channel to help combat the rising spate of mis and disinformation around the failed coup. The page, Anti Fake News Benin, was created on December 8, 2025, by the National Cybercrime outfit, Centre National d’Investigations Numeriques (CNIN).
“Follow us to verify content published about Benin and to make a difference between what is true and what is not,” the caption of the page read. It has been sharing images, videos and links to misleading and false content and debunking false information.
Benin failed coup: Timeline of major events
| Morning of December 7, 2025 | Reports of a coup underway in Benin Eight soldiers appear on the state broadcaster (SRTB) to announce the overthrow of the government The media reported gunfire and heavy military deployment in Cotonou |
| Late morning | Interior Minister appears on TV, says coup has been foiled Loyalist forces were retaking key installations The constitutional order was still in place |
| Nigeria announces intervention | The Air Force launched precision strikes against the coupistsAbuja says it acted under the ECOWAS mandate upon request by the Beninese government Tinubu reiterated support for the government |
| President Talon addresses the nation | This was his first public appearance since the failed coup. Commended the army for defending the constitution, and condemned the rogue officers Assured that he remained in control and asked the population to go about their activities |
| ECOWAS reacts | First press release Condemned the coup, commended the Army The statement said it would hold the coupists individually and collectively for any losses of life, property Expressed readiness to deploy the ECOWAS standby force to support the government Second press release The ECOWAS Commission had triggered relevant provisions The ECOWAS chair has ordered the immediate deployment of its Standby Force to Benin Force to comprise personnel from six countries |
| December 8, 2025 | Government announces arrest of 14 persons, including 12 serving soldiers |
| Coup leader, Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri, is said to have fled to Togo | |
| AES accuses Nigeria of breaching Burkina Faso airspace after a distressed military plane landed in Bobo-Dioulassou |
Conclusion
In the aftermath of the coup, two individuals have been arrested regarding comments they made on social media during and after the episode.
Meanwhile, African governments continue to use legislation as the main route to combating information disorder. A route activists and human rights defenders have warned could come at a cost to personal liberties, including freedom of speech.
The middle ground appears to be a safe space, but is it?
Samuel Nii Adjetey also contributed to this report
