A coordinated online campaign of bot-driven disinformation fuelled anti-Chinese sentiment in the months preceding Ghana’s historic decision to bar foreigners from its domestic gold trade, according to researchers and evidence reported by AFP.
The West African nation has long struggled with illegal small-scale mining, locally known as galamsey, which has caused widespread environmental damage and triggered social tensions.
Recently, foreign investors—many of them Chinese nationals—have been accused of operating without permits, using heavy machinery, and contributing to the degradation of water bodies and farmland.
In April 2025, Ghana’s government moved to tighten control of the industry by barring foreigners from trading gold within local markets.
The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), a new state agency, was given exclusive rights to oversee the trade. The decision was widely seen as a warning to foreign operators, particularly Chinese ones.
But long before the official ban, a wave of suspicious activity had taken root online. Researchers identified dozens of fake accounts on X (formerly Twitter), designed to mimic real Ghanaians, that had been pushing a strong anti-China narrative since at least July 2024.
“Corruption be big wahala for here—look at galamsey; when Chinese come inside, everything change sharp,” read one such post in Ghanaian Pidgin English. Experts confirmed the language patterns indicated bot activity.
The campaign frequently accused China of plundering Ghana’s resources: “We for keep eye on them, no let them steal we gold like they done in other countries,” said another post.
The accounts consistently framed Chinese nationals as the sole perpetrators of illegal mining, largely ignoring the complicity of Ghanaian elites, many of whom have been accused of protecting or profiting from galamsey.
While 38 accounts were flagged by researchers Darren Linvill and Patrick Warren at Clemson University, they believe the true number of bots involved was likely far higher. The campaign ceased abruptly in March, just before the government’s gold-trading ban was enacted. Several of the identified accounts have since been deleted.
Senyo Hosi, a prominent campaigner against illegal mining, warned that scapegoating foreigners risks oversimplifying a deeply entrenched issue. “China’s role is significant, but it would be misleading to scapegoat foreigners alone,” he said.
The motivations behind the disinformation effort remain unclear. No individual or organisation has claimed responsibility, and the Ghanaian government and Chinese embassy declined to comment.
The coordinated push appears to have spanned rival political administrations. President John Mahama, who won the December 2024 election, succeeded Nana Akufo-Addo, under whose leadership the April mining policy was introduced.
Fact-checker Rabiu Alhassan, director of FactSpace West Africa, noted that both foreign and local actors have vested interests in Ghana’s lucrative gold industry. He also warned that the country’s strategic location—just south of the conflict-ridden Sahel—makes it a prime target for influence campaigns involving global powers such as Russia and the West.
Interestingly, the bot accounts also posted about unrelated topics, including hot sauce, a British football team, and Russia’s involvement in Mali. This pattern, researchers said, suggests that they were likely part of a commercial bot-for-hire operation.
While disinformation campaigns by Chinese, Russian, and Iranian actors against Western nations receive significant scrutiny, Linvill argued that such efforts targeting non-Western populations—particularly in Africa—often go unnoticed. “The most common culprits behind influence campaigns are governments trying to sway their people,” he said.
In May, the Ghana Gold Board reported its first arrests under the new policy. The foreign nationals apprehended were all Indian citizens.
