International Report Reveals Digital Disinformation Networks Linked to Sudan War

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A controversial new research report has revealed one of the largest digital manipulation networks linked to the war in Sudan, documenting how social media platforms — particularly X — have become parallel battlegrounds where coordinated disinformation campaigns are conducted to reshape public opinion and influence users’ perceptions of events unfolding in Sudan and the wider region.

The report, titled “Enabling Atrocities in MENA and Sudan: Sockpuppets, Bots and Digital Information Harm During Wartime,” was produced under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair on Data, Media and Society at the University of South Carolina. It was authored by digital disinformation researcher Marc Owen Jones, an associate professor of media analytics at Northwestern University in Qatar.

The study relied on extensive technical analysis of more than 250,000 posts across three distinct digital networks involving over 27,000 accounts described as fake or engaged in coordinated influence activities. According to the report, these accounts operated in multiple languages — including Arabic, English, French, Persian, and Turkish — over a period exceeding two years, with the aim of shaping narratives related to the Sudan war and several regional issues.

The report concluded that there was intensive online activity promoting narratives favorable to the Rapid Support Forces and aligned with Emirati political positions. The RSF was portrayed as a force seeking peace and possessing political and humanitarian legitimacy, while responsibility for famine, abuses, and obstruction of humanitarian aid was largely attributed to the Sudanese Armed Forces and Islamist currents associated with it.

It also uncovered coordinated digital campaigns following events in El Fasher, which sought to reframe scenes of violence and abuses within rhetoric centered on “recovery” and “stability.” The researcher described this as a recurring pattern aimed at whitewashing atrocities and repackaging them within political and media discourse designed to reduce their impact on public opinion.

The report further noted that recent changes in platform management policies — particularly paid verification systems and algorithms that amplify content based on engagement and subscriptions — have lowered the cost of political and media influence campaigns. According to the researcher, this has enabled organized actors to artificially purchase credibility and broad reach, making it easier for propaganda networks to shape public debates and influence digital agendas without genuine grassroots support.

Among the report’s most alarming findings was the identification of networks using AI-generated or AI-assisted personas. The study found that several accounts employed fabricated digital identities, synthetic profile images, and artificial writing patterns designed to imitate real users and interact in ways that appeared authentic. According to the report, these accounts played a key role in amplifying political messaging and influencing followers’ perceptions of events.

The report also criticized what it described as weak enforcement of safety and moderation policies by digital platforms in Arabic-speaking and conflict environments, noting that misleading content and coordinated networks often remain active for long periods without effective intervention, compared to the faster responses seen in English-speaking contexts.

The researcher warned that the danger of such campaigns extends beyond immediate user deception to influencing the outputs of generative AI models and search tools powered by large language models, which millions increasingly rely on for information. He noted that flooding the internet with massive amounts of coordinated disinformation could eventually distort historical facts and entrench fabricated narratives within intelligent systems themselves.

Although the report acknowledged that digital warfare and disinformation have been used by both sides of the Sudan conflict — the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces — it explained that the study focused more heavily on the RSF because of the scale of the networks linked to it, the availability of digital evidence, and the nature of risks associated with atrocities and abuses, rather than any assumption that disinformation is practiced by only one side.

Marc Owen Jones is considered one of the leading researchers on digital authoritarianism and media disinformation in the Middle East. He has previously published international investigations and studies on electronic influence networks in the region. He is also the author of two prominent books, Political Repression in Bahrain and Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East, the latter of which was selected among the best books of 2023 by Foreign Affairs. Jones has extensive academic and field experience, having grown up in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and studied or worked in Sudan, Syria, Germany, and the United Kingdom, giving him deep insight into the political and media contexts of the region.