The New Patriotic Party(NPP) has been exposed for shockingly deploying over 170 fake X accounts to spread false AI-generated messages against the NDC and John Mahama.
According to a new research investigation reported by NewsGuard, it has been revealed that Ghana’s incumbent NPP has deployed over 170 Twitter fake accounts that use ChatGPT to create and spread false AI-generated messages to discredit the main opposition candidate the NDC.
McKenzie Sadeghi, an editor of AI and foreign influence at NewsGuard who contributed to the research, told Rest of World, “The primary goal of the network appears to be to amplify pro-NPP messaging, promote the Bawumia administration and take aim at the opposition National Democratic Congress,”
The director of research and development at the NewGuard revealed in an interview that fake accounts tend to post at “regular” and “predictable” intervals, often ten or more times per day, he added in Ghana the fake accounts tend to be lively between 8 am and 6 pm.
They often receive likes and reposts from the other fake accounts which tipped them off.
The Information gathered from the investigation suggests the fake accounts have been active since February and have been uniformly promoting NPP’s presidential candidate Mahamudu Bawumia with the hashtags #Bawumia2024, #NPP, and the NPP slogan #ItIsPossible.
The fake accounts have AI-generated profile photos, and have names such as “Glenn Washington,” “Netflix Series&Movies,” and “Patriot” also belittle John Mahama, the presidential candidate from the National Democratic Congress using hashtags such as #mahamaisaliar and #DrunkmaniMahama, accusing Mahama of being a drunkard, which John Mahama has since denied.
The NewsGuard is a website that offers tools to assess the accuracy and reliability of news outlets.
Meanwhile, in a press statement the NDC has cautioned the media, saying, “Having said this, the NDC wishes to caution the media to be on high alert for purveyors of fake news. It has become the modus operandi of some functionaries and hirelings of the New Patriotic Party to manufacture and disseminate fake news and malicious publications calculated to mislead the Ghanaian public”.
