False claims that Burkina Faso detained French spy go viral online
AI-generated videos falsely claiming a French woman was arrested for espionage in Burkina Faso have spread virally online, triggering a wave of disinformation.
The videos claim to show Claire Dubois, a French NGO worker in her early thirties, being summoned and detained by Ibrahim Traoré, the military officer who seized power in Burkina Faso in September 2022.
Unfounded claims seen by Euroverify claim Dubois was a French spy who gathered military intelligence "under the guise of humanitarian work".
There is no evidence to back the claims, and the original video planting the story was first published on YouTube with a disclaimer saying it was a 'work of fiction'.
"The situations and dialogues depicted are entirely fictional and do not reflect any actual events," it reads.
But the disclaimer has been removed from videos shared on platforms including TikTok, Facebook and X. One TikTok video spreading the claim has been viewed over two million times.
The fake news was also amplified by Russian state-sponsored media outlets such as Pravda, despite it being initially labelled as fictional.
Four French intelligence agents were released in December 2024 after being held for a year in the Burkinabé capital Ouagadougou accused of espionage, after mediation efforts by Morocco.
A further three French diplomats were also expelled from the country in April last year.
There have been no reports of humanitarian workers accused of espionage.
While no evidence has emerged to demonstrate Russian involvement in the spread of this false claim, several African TikTok influencers Euroverify has seen propagating the material also promote anti-Western and anti-Ukraine content that fits within the Kremlin's disinformation playbook.
Burkina Faso and neighbouring Niger and Mali in the Sahel have long been considered strongholds of pro-Russian propaganda campaigns in Africa.
Moscow has backed the post-coup governments in all three countries, where disillusionment and frustration with the former colonial ruler, France, has left a void.
Pro-Kremlin, anti-Western propaganda is now helping cement the popularity of leaders such as Burkina Faso's Ibrahim Traoré, a 37-year-old military commander who is considered a staunch Kremlin ally.
During his recent visit to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for Victory Day celebrations on 9 May, Traoré told state-owned media Russia Today: 'My biggest regret is to have spent a good part of my youth listening to radio such as RFI (Radio France Info) and France 24."
"So (Russia Today) can do a lot to awaken the conscience of the young people so that they understand how the world works and don't let those others take over.'
While little is known about the extent and sophistication of pro-Russian disinformation operations in these countries, a 2024 report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies identifies Kremlin-linked actors as the predominant sponsor of disinformation campaigns in Burkina Faso.
It says these campaigns pay African influencers to spread propaganda, and that Russian embassies help set up so-called "grassroots front organisations" to generate and amplify disinformation locally.
In Burkina Faso, groups such as African Initiative, which has been sanctioned by the European Union, are used to push a "pro-Russian agenda" while providing aid and "promoting Russian culture" to local communities, according to research organisation African Digital Democracy Observatory.
A 2024 EU report on foreign interference describes African Initiative as a "state-linked" Russian actor that serves as a "central hub" for "executing Russian FIMI (foreign information manipulation and interference) operations in Africa."
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