Full Breakdown
Anthropic Report Accuses Russian Actors of Deploying Claude AI for Disinformation in the Central African Republic and Across Africa
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event
In September, Anthropic – the U.S. AI firm – alleged that Russian agents operating in the Central African Republic (CAR) used Claude to generate pro-Russian propaganda for broadcast on Radio Lengo Songo, a station identified by the investigative collective All Eyes on Wagner as being funded by Russia. The report expands the claim to similar operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Sudan and Mali, describing a pattern of AI-driven content creation, surveillance of opposition politicians and attempts to portray opposition figures as armed militants.
Background & Context
Since 2016, President Faustin-Archange Touadera has led the CAR amid a security vacuum increasingly filled by the Wagner Group and its successor “Africa Corps.” All Eyes on Wagner has documented arrests of individuals perceived as opponents of the Touadera regime and linked Russian mercenaries to political manipulation in Bangui.
Data & Statistics
- Democratic Republic of the Congo: Anthropic identified 318 articles published by roughly 70 fake-news sites and amplified by more than 250 fictitious X accounts, all supporting the Congolese government’s stance in its conflict with Rwanda.
- Kenya: Claude was allegedly prompted to generate batches of 50 messages at a time that praised the Kenyan government and attacked opposition voices.
- Sudan: The report says AI was used in an operation attributed to individuals in the United Arab Emirates to fabricate witness statements for the United Nations.
- Mali: An adviser with intelligence-service ties purportedly used Claude to develop a platform targeting 25 million SIM cards, bypassing judicial authorization.
Anthropic states it shut down these operations between December 2025 and August 2026 by deleting the involved accounts and strengthening detection systems.
Official Statements & Responses
- Anthropic’s claim: The company asserts that Claude was prompted to produce disinformation content, monitor opposition politicians and, in one instance, to portray them as militants—a request Claude refused. The report does not name the monitored opposition figures or detail the data collected.
- “Yes, I heard about [the report] in the news,” — Dmitri Sytyi
Criticism & Opposition
Opposition leaders view the findings as evidence of a coordinated effort by the Touadera government and its Russian allies to eliminate dissent. Martin Ziguele, chairman of the Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People, told DW, “We have been observing this since 2020, when the CPC, a coalition of rebel groups, attacked Bangui. Strangely enough, several media outlets did everything in their power to establish alleged links between certain opposition leaders and the CPC.”
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
- The Anthropic report does not disclose the identities of the opposition figures it says were monitored, nor the specific datasets used.
- No independent verification of the alleged AI-generated content has been provided; the claim rests solely on Anthropic’s internal analysis.
- Russian officials dismiss the allegations as “vague” and lacking evidence, creating a factual dispute that remains unresolved.
Verbatim Quotes
- “We have been observing this since 2020, when the CPC, a coalition of rebel groups, attacked Bangui. Strangely enough, several media outlets did everything in their power to establish alleged links between certain opposition leaders and the CPC,” — Martin Ziguele
- “Yes, I heard about [the report] in the news,” — Dmitri Sytyi