Mozilla fellow Odanga Madung has criticised the Spain-based CitizenGO for spreading disinformation about surrogacy, and other reproductive issues in Kenya through Twitter conversation.
According to Madung research findings, the disinformation campaigns were amplified by Twitter’s trending algorithm, reaching millions of Kenyans.
In a statement, Madung claimed that Twitter permanently suspended more than 240 related accounts after reviewing its research.
Madung amassed evidence that the Spanish-based organization CitizenGO pushed 10 hashtags into Twitter’s trending section in Kenya — many of which contained health disinformation — just as Kenyans debated federal bills about reproductive healthcare and surrogacy.
The research is titled “Exporting Disinformation: How Foreign Groups Peddle Influence in Kenya Through Twitter.”
Madung used Twitter’s Firehose to review content posted between 2020 and 2021.
He examined a total of 20,811 tweets and identified 11 total campaigns likely fueled by CitizenGO — 10 of which were featured on Twitter’s trending section.
Madung also spoke with Twitter users in Kenya who were paid to tweet. The sources said they received money, content, and instructions from CitizenGO over WhatsApp.
These campaigns attacked Kenyan politicians and activists who advocated for the 2020 Reproductive Healthcare Bill, the 2021 Surrogacy Bill, and reproductive rights more broadly.
The bills would outlaw forced sterilizations; make prenatal, delivery and postnatal services free to every woman in the country; and develop standards, regulations and guidelines on assisted reproduction.
The tweets also made false and misleading claims around surrogacy and other areas of reproductive health. For example, they claimed children of surrogacy are more likely to display behavioural and emotional problems.
As part of the research, Madung spoke with the African Population Health Research Center (APHRC), which debunked these claims.
“The research reveals how a right-wing European organization used Twitter to insert disinformation and inflammatory rhetoric into an important and nuanced regional conversation. It also reveals how Twitter lacks the cultural context, the staff, and the will to confront this problem,” Madung said.
