AI helps expose AI-generated disinformation in Rwandan elections
Rwandan propagandists have been caught using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to harass and threaten President Paul Kagame's critics as he seeks reelection after ruling for 24 years. Rwanda is approaching a finish line in the race for the mid-July presidential elections, with incumbent President Paul Kagame expected to win his fourth term after ruling this central African nation since 2000. Kagame's ruling party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, or RPF, is credited with rebuilding the country after the 1994 genocide.
Accusations and Criticisms
Critics accuse Kagame of securing the win by blocking opposition candidates from running against him and using generative Artificial Intelligence to silence his critics. Human Rights Watch has reported that Kagame has dealt with dissent by using methods such as extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, political prosecutions, and unlawful detention, as well as threats, intimidation, harassment, and physical surveillance.
In the most recent events, Kagame threatened to launch a war against neighboring Congo when its president, Felix Tshisekedi, suggested that the International Criminal Court should try Kagame for organizing the genocide of Congolese Tutsis and for supporting the M23 militant group. The United States and the United Nations also accuse Kagame of providing military backing to M23 rebels.
AI Propaganda Campaign
To address the criticism and justify another term in office, Kagame's government has launched a coordinated online campaign that uses Artificial Intelligence to generate and spread political propaganda. The campaign has directed its content towards different narratives, including the Congo conflict, fighting Kagame critics, and boasting of Kagame's successes and accomplishments.
The Media Forensics Hub reported that at least 464 accounts shared 650,000 posts using AI since January 2024. The campaign utilized large-language models and AI-generated imagery to push propaganda narratives.
Rwandan Use of AI Exposed
The Media Forensics Hub exposed Rwandan use of AI after ChatGPT, the Open AI deep learning language model, leaked some of the messages it had been asked to generate. Kagame is known as a supporter of AI technologies, having established a technology center in Rwanda called the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Rwanda (C4IR).
International Investigations and Responses
Forbidden Stories, an international journalism network, investigated Rwanda's use of coordinated social media accounts for online propaganda and harassment, including the use of Pegasus software to track down Kagame's critics and political opponents. The research suggested that Rwanda developed a system of surveillance and repression, even carrying out assassinations against members of its diaspora in Europe and Africa. Kagame's government denied these allegations.
The recent AI propaganda campaign paints Congolese leaders as the sole perpetrators of the conflict with Rwanda, but the U.N. Group of Experts has found evidence of Rwandan Defense Forces training M23 and fighting alongside its militants in Congo.
The U.S. State Department condemned the Rwandan government for supporting M23, calling on it to immediately withdraw all Rwanda Defense Force personnel from Congo. Kagame responded by claiming that the M23 rebels are fighting to defend the minority Tutsis of Rwandan origin who live in Congo, despite denying Rwanda's military presence in Congo.
Source: Polygraph.info
