4 methods disinformation about migration is circulating in South Africa
In 2026, anti-migrant teams have organised dozens of protests and demonstrations throughout South Africa, calling for stricter motion towards undocumented migration.
The nation has a well-documented historical past of xenophobia, and knowledge from the South African Social Attitudes Survey, carried out by the Human Sciences Analysis Council, exhibits that unfavorable attitudes in direction of migrants are rising.
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In keeping with Xenowatch, a platform that displays xenophobic discrimination in South Africa, 23 verified incidents passed off between January and June. Of those, 14 included violence.
Xenowatch was developed by the African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS) at the College of the Witwatersrand (Wits), in Johannesburg.
A number of African nations, together with Malawi, Ghana and Nigeria, have begun repatriating residents underneath menace.
False data on social media and messaging apps is including to the strain and lending help to xenophobic discourse.
On this article, we talk about 4 traits we have seen at Africa Examine and ideas for methods to spot them.
Movies and pictures have been broadly shared with claims that they present African immigrants committing crimes. Others are claimed to indicate violence and destruction by or towards migrants.
In all of the instances Africa Examine investigated, the visuals have been taken out of context and never linked to current occasions.
Visuals generated utilizing synthetic intelligence (AI) instruments have been much less frequent however are nonetheless an issue. One video despatched to Africa Examine’s WhatsApp line seems to indicate an Ethiopian man telling the media that he is not going to depart South Africa, regardless of current threats.
The video seems to be life like, however there are indicators it was made with AI. The speech is unnaturally sluggish and exact, which isn’t what we’d anticipate in a dwell interview. The sound can be very clear, although the interview takes place outdoors and a South African flag is blowing within the background. This implies there was wind, which we’d anticipate to have an effect on the audio of the recording. At one level, two interviewers seem to ask the identical query on the similar time. Delicate indicators like these are sufficient to query whether or not the video is actual.
Africa Examine looked for the interview on the web site and social media accounts of the South African Broadcasting Company, whose brand is seen on one of many microphones, however got here up empty. This confirmed that the video was faux.
One other picture, supposedly captured throughout service supply protests which escalated into looting that focused migrants, exhibits a gaggle of males carrying a coffin and a marble gravestone previous burning particles on a road. The failings have been additionally troublesome to identify, however a more in-depth look revealed the picture was AI-generated.
For recycled visuals, instruments like reverse picture search may help present the place and after they have been first shared. However this may occasionally not work with AI-generated content material. Whereas there are clues to search for, the perfect method is usually nonetheless to look past the content material and think about the context.
Take into consideration the general message or feeling of the content material. Ask your self what feelings it is making an attempt to set off. Is it meant to make you offended, outraged or disgusted? This may very well be a warning signal.
If the occasion proven is necessary or newsworthy, the shortage of any credible reporting is one other warning signal.
Disinformation about migration can be spreading by way of quotes falsely attributed to public officers.
Typically the quotes are correct however shared with out necessary context, resembling this clip, which social customers claimed confirmed Democratic Alliance member Michael Solar complaining about migrants in South Africa. Nevertheless it had been taken out of context. The complete speech was really about crime in Gauteng province.
Different quotes are utterly made up. For instance, there may be no proof that South Africa’s chief justice, Mandisa Maya, made an “official declaration” saying anybody who protests or promotes violence on 30 June “will likely be responsible of a felony offence”. The date refers to a “deadline” set by anti-immigration teams for “undocumented” migrants from different African nations to go away South Africa.
In one other instance, posts claimed that Botswana’s president, Duma Boko, gave a speech that criticised the remedy of Botswanan residents in South Africa. However there is no such thing as a proof that Boko stated this.
By falsely linking quotes to influential individuals, disinformers can manufacture outrage or panic.
If a quote sounds surprising or excessive, ask whether or not the particular person is basically prone to have stated it. Examine it with how they normally converse. And in the event you’re nonetheless uncertain, verify the particular person’s official social media accounts or search for reviews from credible sources.
Together with faux quotes from outstanding individuals, faux paperwork are additionally being shared, with claims that they originate from authorities departments.
For instance, this poster seems to be from South Africa’s division of dwelling affairs. It says that “all unlawful foreigners should depart South Africa by June thirtieth”. However the South African police stated the poster was unauthorised.
One other extra official-looking “public discover” additionally appeared to come back from the division of dwelling affairs. It presents a reward for data resulting in the placement of “undocumented overseas nationals”.
The discover might look convincing at first, nevertheless it doesn’t match the division’s regular social media posts. The faux doc makes use of a distinct font sort and measurement. Its letterhead can be totally different.
Like with faux quotes linked to public figures, paperwork impersonating authorities departments can mislead, particularly after they mimic the format of actual authorities notices.
However the satan is usually within the particulars. Examine that the contact data matches the phone numbers and e-mail addresses on the division’s official web site. Has the nationwide coat of arms been included, and in that case, is it genuine?
Poor grammar is one other purple flag. Official communication from a authorities division is normally rigorously edited.
WhatsApp voice notes are notoriously troublesome to confirm. With out visible clues, you might want to hear rigorously to what’s being stated. Has the speaker recognized themselves or stated which organisation they symbolize? Does the audio sound prefer it may very well be manipulated?
Like with different types of disinformation, context issues. Ask your self why somebody would possibly share or create a faux voice word. Who may gain advantage from it?
Most significantly, in case you are unsure whether or not a voice word is actual, do not ahead it.
Take, for instance, voice notes warning those who foreign-owned spaza outlets are promoting poisoned meals to youngsters.
In a single voice word, a girl repeats one thing she says she heard “from a Somalian Christian man”. She claims that spaza store homeowners held a gathering the place they mentioned poisoning all of the meals, drinks, cigarettes and chewing gum of their outlets.
“They are going to inject it with a poison as a result of they stated that they wish to ensure that when the time comes, when the thirtieth of June comes, they wish to ensure that they’ve already killed lots of people simply earlier than they return again to their houses.”
The girl ends with a plea: “So please, please guys, please simply just remember to not purchase something … from any spaza outlets.”
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The voicenote performs on actual fears. In recent times, there have been a number of instances of food-related poisoning linked to items purchased from spaza outlets.
However the voicenote provides little proof of a deliberate effort by foreign-owned outlets. The girl doesn’t say who she is or what space she is speaking about. Her solely supply is an unnamed “Somalian Christian man”.
A seek for comparable warnings from trusted sources, such because the South African police or the division of well being, doesn’t help the declare. The emotional plea on the finish can be a purple flag. Pressing and alarming claims are sometimes used to unfold disinformation, as persons are extra possible to share the issues they really feel strongly about.
So whereas we can’t affirm the place the voice word got here from, there are sufficient purple flags to mistrust it. On the very least, it shouldn’t be shared additional.
Loren Landau, analysis professor at Wits’s ACMS, instructed Africa Examine that “so long as there was public polling, South Africans have had decidedly unfavorable attitudes in direction of migration”.
He added that false narratives had circulated for many years however have been made worse by the arrival of reasonably priced smartphones and algorithmic social media, which allowed messages to achieve these most certainly to behave on the narratives.
He stated:
What’s extra harmful… is the ability of false data to assist remodel these attitudes in direction of motion.Whereas misinformation is at all times dangerous and deceptive, when it fosters concern and social division, it runs the danger of political mobilisation, marginalisation, and violence. Inflated numbers and narratives that essentialise social teams as threats assist naturalise real-world motion to ‘handle’ these threats… the consequences will likely be dangerous and long-lasting.That is the precipice on which we now sit.