In South Africa, 27% of anti-foreign narratives linked to disinformation network — Daily Maverick

A study by the Tales of Turning organization in South Africa found that 27% of the analyzed anti-foreign narrative on social media was linked to a disinformation network of destabilizer accounts and bots. This was reported by Daily Maverick.

The organization analyzed a random sample of publicly available posts published between May 30 and June 30, 2026. To identify disinformation, hate speech and coordinated message dissemination, researchers combined artificial intelligence with human analysis.

Narratives of threat

According to Tales of Turning, such messages often portray South African residents as citizens, taxpayers and patriots who are allegedly threatened by foreign nationals. Foreigners themselves are characterized in these narratives as illegal arrivals, criminals or a threat to the economy.

Such claims are linked to real problems, including unemployment, crime, housing shortages, pressure on public services, infrastructure decline and difficulties faced by small businesses. At the same time, researchers emphasize that reducing these complex issues to accusations against one group may channel public discontent into hostility toward foreigners.

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Anti-foreign sentiment may also be presented through calls for stricter enforcement of laws, sovereignty and migration rules. Messages may use coded words, altered spellings and symbols to spread hostile messages while attempting to evade content moderation.

The effect of artificial consensus

Repeating the same slogans, hashtags and messages from numerous accounts can create the impression among users that a particular position is shared by a significant part of society. According to the organization, coordinated content amplification can artificially create such a sense of consensus.

Emotional videos and posts containing words such as “urgent” or “emergency,” dramatic images and symbols further contribute to rapid dissemination. This prompts people to react before checking the origin of the video, the time it was recorded and the accuracy of the claims. Tales of Turning notes that not every post critical of foreigners is coordinated, and not every person sharing it belongs to a disinformation network.