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“Ivory Coast is burning,” reads the caption of a post made by an X user on May 21, 2025, precisely at 4:14 am.
Not just the caption, the user uploaded a 57-second video showing a large building engulfed in flames. On the facade of the building, “Central Commune d’Adjame” is written, and people are seen crowded across the building.
This was the reality of the Côte d’Ivoire online coup as strings of X accounts push out videos of inflamed buildings, military personnel, and a mammoth crowd running aimlessly to depict an alleged violent coup happening in the country.
The above video, shared by one of the leading actors claiming to be an advocate for equality and a national fighter on X, had amassed over 200,000 views, 2,449 likes, 1,160 reposts, and 195 bookmarks as of the time this report was drafted.
Curiously, we checked the post’s comment section and noticed that many welcomed the possibility of a coup in Côte d’Ivoire, which led to advocacy for replication in other African countries.
Next, DUBAWA decided to check the authenticity of the video. We subjected several keyframes to a Google Reverse Image search. We noticed that the video of an inflamed building was from a fire incident at the Adjamé Château commercial centre in February 2025. Media outlets reported the incident in February, as seen here and here. A similar video was also shared on Facebook during the same time frame.
However, during our observation, we noticed that this was beyond standard disinformation; it was well-planned, organised, and coordinated propaganda crafted to promote a fictional event that never happened.
In this report, DUBAWA will be digging into the web of disinformation coordinated by some online actors on social media (X, Facebook, and TikTok), the patterns of spreading these fictional narratives, and the political setting in Côte d’Ivoire.
Tracing the spread of misinformation
Over the years, Africa has witnessed violent protests that led to military coups in countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger undermining the role of democracy which has in turn fueled agitation for military intervention in other Africa countries.
To amplify this military narrative, X has become a fertile ground for spreading alleged achievements made by countries ruled by interim presidents, as Burkina Faso takes the lead.
DUBAWA identified a particular South African X user, Mehmet Vefa Dag (@AFRICANDEMOC), who was one of the orchestrators and coordinators of their divisive claims of a military takeover in Côte d’Ivoire.
Mehmet Vefam is a Turkish-born South African and the leader of the Truth & Solidarity Movement, a fringe political party in South Africa. Despite his promise and advocacy for social inequality and accountability, he has been accused of instigating hate speech and promoting violence through online platforms.
During the alleged three-day coup in Côte d’Ivoire, he has been sharing unrelated and old videos to advance the narrative on X and other social media platforms, such as Facebook and TikTok.
Analysis of his X page reveals that he started spreading the narrative of an alleged coup on May 20, 2025. He began posting content that could trigger a change of government, while some of his posts called for a coup in Ivory Coast. On May 20, 2025, he made five posts with the tag “Ivory Coast” on his X handle, as seen here, here, here, and here.
Meanwhile, weeks before this coup propaganda, he shared an image of President Alassane Ouattara holding hands with Emmanuel Macron, the former President of France, with a sharp caption: “Ivory Coast needs a coup!!!” This post, viewed by more than 1,660 users on X, led to comments from users approving the proposal, with comments like “immediately” and “Asap” (a slang term meaning to act fast).
This advocacy for a coup was not limited to Côte d’Ivoire alone. Still, other African countries, such as Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana, found their names on Mehmet Vefa’s list of African countries that need a coup. But days before the online coup, he concentrated more on the Côte d’Ivoire part of the propaganda.
Online coup in Côte d’IVoire
On May 21, 2025, Mehmet Vefa on X shared a video showing many people in jubilation. In the video, women and men are seen waving the flag in what appears to be a celebration. The video, which generated more than 61,000 views, 2719 likes, 912 reposts, 78 bookmarks, and 43 quotes as of Jun. 13, 2025, was captioned, “Ivory Coast revolution will free Africa from its chains.”
Meanwhile, DUBAWA’s investigation into the X clip’s context led us to a similar video shared on TikTok without captions months before the staged online coup in May.
On that same day, he shared another video showing some people dashing aimlessly up a muddy slope, claiming that it was representative of the current situation in Côte d’Ivoire at that particular time. The video, captioned “Ivory Coast revolution is a big step for Africa,” attracted 26,000 views and was shared 182 times on X.
When DUBAWA took screenshots of the clip and analysed it using a reverse image search, we came across a more extended video version on YouTube without captions, shared on May 20, 2025. Keyframes from this YouTube video were then subjected to a digital verification tool, leading us to a Facebook video shared on May 20, 2025, with the caption relating the video to a clash between youth in two districts of Abobo, a district located in Abidjan, the capital of Côte d’Ivoire.
A screenshot of the X user’s post is on the left, while the real context is on the right. Photo Source: X, Facebook
This particular X user also used more unrelated videos and AI-generated images to spread coup propaganda, as seen here, here, here, and here.
Meanwhile, another X page, Proud Africa (@MpeseProud), also shared similar videos and posts to promote the existence of a coup in Côte d’Ivoire. In one of his posts, he shared a video with a loud background gunshot noise. When DUBAWA inquired, we came across a French news report published on May 19, 2025.
According to the report, gunfire broke out this Monday in front of the MATCA headquarters in Abidjan-Plateau, leaving several people injured, with no correlation to any coup attacks or implementation in the country. Other coup-related posts by the user can be viewed here, here, and here.
In a separate web of disinformation, another user, @Expope1, with 43,000 followers and no followers, shared a video showing a group of people in military uniforms celebrating in what appears to be preparation for battle. These soldiers are seen wielding guns and chanting aloud. While some are seen standing, others are seated on motorcycles.
Since we obtained no similar results from the reverse search, we conducted a manual analysis of the clip. In the video, the army is seen carrying flags with a red top stripe, a green bottom stripe, and a yellow five-pointed star in the middle, which describes the Burkina Faso flag, not the Côte d’Ivoire flag. This user also shared similar online coup videos, as seen here, here, and here.
Screenshot of the X post revealing the flag colour in the video. Photo Source: X
On TikTok, the official handle of Mehmet Vefa, as well as pages like Daily Africanews, OneMotherland211, and ForHubNews, amplified this narrative. Some of their posts can be viewed here, here, here, and here.
Patterns in spread
DUBAWA noticed that, despite no physical coup in Côte d’Ivoire, videos and images were circulating on various social media platforms, particularly X and TikTok, with several fictional and false reports.
After analysing the event over these three days, we noticed that the videos shared were overlaid with graphics to explain the coup, which made verifications difficult. Most videos we analysed using digital verification tools directed us to various platforms where the coup claim was uploaded, rather than the video’s actual context.
Another noticeable pattern is the use of the English language in captioning these misleading claims online. Despite French being an official language in Côte d’Ivoire, these online actors used the general English language to amplify reach and engagement. For instance, most posts used “Ivory Coast” instead of “Côte d’Ivoire.”
Moreover, the engagement was also overwhelming, which allowed it to spread rapidly. For instance, coup posts from disinformation peddlers on X accumulated tens of thousands of views, likes, and retweets compared to regular posts.
Political fears ahead of 2025
As Côte d’Ivoire prepares for the general election in October, the political system is at the root of political tension in the country. Fears that the current president might contest for a fourth term in office have provided a breeding ground for disinformation.
President Alassane Ouattara served for 10 years after completing a limit of two terms in 2020. During his first two terms, a new constitution was adopted in 2016 limiting presidents to two five-year terms. In 2020, he stepped down, but due to the death of his successor during that period, he made a comeback, arguing that the 2016 constitution reset his term count.
Similarly, opposition leader Tidjane Thiam, a former Credit Suisse CEO and head of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), was disqualified due to holding dual nationality, which is prohibited by the Ivorian constitution. However, he claimed to have denounced French citizenship.
This, in addition to the country’s proximity to other military-ruled states like Burkina Faso and Mali, further reinforces the narrative, leading people to believe in a fictional protest engineered by malign actors.
Conclusion
After a rigorous investigation, the coup campaign that started spreading on X from May 20th, 2025, to May 23rd of the same year was organised to trigger a real and physical demonstration among youths in the country.
Given the insidious decline of democracy in Africa, the clampdown on French colonies in the country and its proximity to other African countries that have experienced the forceful ousting of democratic presidents by military officials made the country more accessible and viable to disinformation. However, all these claims are false and without merit.
