Despite the lack of any proof of a coup or disturbance on the ground, a flood of fake news surged throughout blogs, Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok, ranging from recycled protest videos and false reports of gunfire to misleading claims of an internet outage.
Farouk Damilola became a lone voice online, disputing viral posts that falsely claimed that a coup had taken place in Côte d’Ivoire.
The Nigerian filmmaker, who resides in Côte d’Ivoire, spent much of May 21, 2025, observing and countering disinformation on microblogging platform, X (formerly Twitter) suggesting that President Alassane Ouattara had been overthrown.
Damilola repeatedly denied the claims, responding to posts, posting images and videos of calm scenes in the Ivorian capital of Abidjan. “There was no coup, and the city is peaceful. An altercation between transporters and court police occurred in Plateau earlier, which caused some confusion on the internet. That has been settled. Therefore, there is no problem in Abidjan,” he stated in an interview conducted via X DM.
The false coup narrative spread despite his efforts, with many social media users reposting and posting unverified reports that the Chief of Armed Forces had been executed and President Ouattara overthrown.
One video (archived), posted by TikTok user Mehmet Vefa Dağ on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 at 5:20 am (Nigerian time), with the caption, “A coup is happening in Ivory Coast…, Next on the list are Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.” was one of the videos used to support the claim. By using the INVID verification tool and performing a reverse image search on the video fragmentation, it was verified that the video was taken in front of the Abidjan headquarters of the Mutual Insurance Company for Taxi Meters of Abidjan (MATCA).
Local reports revealed that on May 19, 2025 security personnel and an unidentified group reportedly clashed during a violent attempt to prevent leadership changes at the MATCA headquarters.
According to cross-platform analysis of Facebook, X, TikTok, and Instagram, Mehmet’s TikTok video, which attracted 445 views at first, seems to be among the first to link the video to a coup happening in Cote D’ivoire. At around 12:14 PM on May 20, he posted the same video to his X account, where it received over 312,600 views. Since then, over 20 other users shared the video on all four platforms, increasing the number of views by thousands.
Analysis conducted on Facebook also showed that the claim about coup seems to first appear at precisely 18:46 PM, around six hours after Mehmet’s coup claim appeared on X. A Ghanian on X with a profile name, Hon. Alex Kwame Amoyaw posted a video of gunfire on May 20 and described it as proof of a Côte d’Ivoire coup. But when the video was subjected to the InVid verification tool, it turned out to be from the Pakistan-India conflict and had been available online since early May.
Disinformation actors strategically exploited the MATCA incident to spread the false coup narrative across various platforms. On Tuesday, May 20, and Thursday, May 22, videos surfaced on social media showing hundreds of people protesting on the streets, gunfights, and fires consuming stores and shopping centers. Although French is Côte d’Ivoire’s official language, most social media posts and blog entries claiming a coup d’état was underway accompanied by images purportedly from Abidjan were written in English, primarily from accounts based in Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa.
Mehmet Vefa Dağ is a Turkish national who lives in South Africa. He is the president of the Truth & Solidarity Movement and Political Leader. He is considered a controversial figure known for promoting radical narratives.
He did not respond to a message sent to his X and LinkedIn account asking about the sources of the numerous posts he shared online regarding the fake Côte d’Ivoire coup, and his intentions behind spreading them.
Between May 20 and 22, Mehmet shared over 110 posts on X, including reposts from other accounts, original videos, and text updates, and 39 pieces of content on his TikTok account. In many of these posts, military leaders in the Sahel region were praised for their solidarity, and he falsely claimed that a coup had occurred in Côte d’Ivoire.
In a second video posted the same day, May 20, Mehmet was seen on camera claiming that President Alassane Ouattara had been captured or killed in a May 19 coup. He also claimed that no media outlets were covering the events in the nation and that the new government had implemented an internet blackout. This video generated over 313,100 views, 1,283 comments, and 14,800 likes.
However, there was no indication of an internet blackout in Côte d’Ivoire during that time, according to checks on NetBlocks, an independent observatory that keeps an eye on cybersecurity, digital governance, and internet connectivity. In addition to Mehmet’s claims, more than five other accounts on X and TikTok echoed the false narrative of an internet shutdown in the country.
One account that echoed Mehmet’s story about internet shutdown was Bigshai411, a Nigerian TikToker based in Europe. In a video uploaded on his account on May 21, to his more than 363,500 followers, he claimed that the Ivorian government had blocked social media, the internet, and all TV stations in the nation to prevent the spread of information about the alleged coup.
While Mehmet’s videos and text have generated over six millions views, both on X and TikTok, checks online showed that the claim of a coup in Côte d’Ivoire found itself on numerous online platforms and blogs. A review of content across these platforms showed a concerning trend: many people online not only took the claim at face value but also voiced support for a possible military takeover to overthrow the democratically elected President, Alassane Ouattara.
At least ten coup attempts to overthrow democratically elected or transitional leaders occurred in a number of African countries between August 2020 and August 2024. In West and Central Africa, these occurrences have been especially common. Notably, there was a coup in Mali in 2020. Chad, Guinea, Mali, Sudan, and Niger all experienced coups in 2021. Coups occurred in Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso in 2022. More recently, in 2023, there were coups in Gabon and Niger.
This October, voters in the 31 million-person West African nation will choose a new president. The 83-year-old president, Alassane Ouattara, has stated that he is keen to continue serving my country but has not yet indicated whether he intends to run for office again.
The country, which is Africa’s top producer of cocoa, has a long history of election-related violence, including a political dispute over ten years ago that turned violent and claimed thousands of lives.
Tensions have increased due to worries that Ouattara might seek a fourth term. His supporters claim that a 2016 constitutional amendment essentially reset his term count, despite the constitution’s two-term limit. He was able to run for a third five-year term in 2020 thanks to this interpretation, and it may allow his name to be on the ballot once more this October.
As the coup rumours circulated online, Ouattara was seen on May 22 attending UNESCO’s Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize ceremony in Abidjan in a livestream that was uploaded to his official X account.
Debunking the Claims
Analysis conducted on various social media platforms revealed that to support the claim of a coup, several accounts online used old and unconnected videos and images to support their claim, one of which went viral on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Meta Threads, amplified by anonymous and conspiracy-driven accounts, showing a video (archived here) of thick black smoke and scenes of chaos with captions claiming it depicted a military coup underway in Côte d’Ivoire. The video, however, was traced using a screenshot from the video on Google web image search to a fire outbreak at the Château commercial centre in Abidjan that occurred in February 2025.
Another online video purporting to show protesters was erroneously said to be anti-President Ouattara protesters in support of the coup. However, the video actually showed Tidjane Thiam’s supporters protesting his disqualification from the upcoming election, according to analysis done with the video fragmentation from INVID video verification tool. The video was found uploaded by a TikTok user on April 2, 2024 and not recent as alleged.
Tidjane Thiam, a well-known opposition politician, was disqualified from running for office after a court case contested his eligibility on a citizenship-related technicality. Thiam says the ban is political and is contesting the decision.
The fake coup was further fuelled by a post made by the X account of the Nigerian blog Zagazola, which specialises in security analysis and reporting in the Lake Chad region. The post falsely claimed that General Lassina Doumbia, the country’s Chief of Armed Forces, had been assassinated. This claim was refuted when the military’s official Facebook page released a video of him attending a public event just hours after the rumour began spreading.
Before Zagazola shared the claim on X, over 10 profiles had already posted it on Facebook and X on May 20 and 21. Their posts generated hundreds of comments, with some users praising the alleged assassination and others expressing doubts about the claim.
Furthermore, several accounts, including Mehmet’s, falsely claimed that Côte d’Ivoire’s Defence Minister, Téné Birahima Ouattara, had been killed, in addition to the false assassination claim about Doumbia. Birahima, however, attended a commissioning ceremony on May 22, 2025 in Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire’s second-largest city.
Mehmet posted a picture of protesters on May 22, saying it depicted Ivorians protesting on a tarred road. The photo, which received over 1 million views, 23,000 likes, 3,400 reposts, and 958 comments, showed hundreds or thousands of people marching down a road while some protesters threw projectiles at the opposing side. There were also signs of tear gas and a confrontation with security personnel. The photo was also found on Facebook. However, a Google reverse image search showed that the image was actually taken at a protest against the Kenyan government’s proposed new taxes in 2024 in Nairobi.
An X account, @Arc_will, shared a video (archived) that garnered over 112,000 views, claiming it showed Ivorians celebrating a military coup that had allegedly removed President Alassane Ouattara. However, the video is of Ivorians celebrating during the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2024.
The video was found to have been posted online by an Instagram user on January 30, 2024, after Ivory Coast defeated Senegal in the AFCON Round of 16 in a thrilling match. Senegal had taken an early lead but saw it slip just four minutes from time in their Round of 16 clash after conceding a penalty, allowing Ivory Coast to equalise 1-1 and push the game into extra time. The hosts eventually secured a thrilling 5-4 win in the penalty shootout.
The anonymous user captioned the post: “Thank God Almighty, #IvoryCoast is free at last. In a land long gripped by puppetry and corruption, the chains have finally broken. What unfolded was not merely a coup but a course correction. History will remember this day.”
The account identifies as Pan-Africanist, claims to follow the Chavista movement, and frequently posts AES-aligned propaganda.
Other users on both X and TikTok also shared the same video, echoing the false claim that it depicted public celebrations following the supposed overthrow of Ouattara’s government.
Also, video (archived) from the dramatic moment former Côte d’Ivoire Président Laurent Gbagbo was captured in 2011 after refusing to step down despite losing the 2010 presidential election to Alassane Ouattara amid mounting international pressure to falsely claim it was Ivorian soldiers arresting Ouattara during the alleged coup was also shared online. The May 22 video posted by the over 28,700-follower TikTok account BenyiwaTV received over 889,800 views. Mehmet also shared the video on X, where it received over 367,000 views, 5,400 likes, 2,100 reposts, and 470 comments.
The video was also uploaded by an X account claiming to be a United States congressman, using the profile name, Micheal Willian. However, a Google reverse image search revealed that the profile image associated with the account actually belongs to Joe Wilson, an American politician and attorney who has served as the U.S. representative for South Carolina’s 2nd congressional district since 2001. Furthermore, there is no record of a person named Micheal Willian currently serving as a member of the U.S. Congress.
Habari TV, a Tanzanian YouTube channel in Swahili with more than 342,000 subscribers, posted a nighttime gunfight video on May 21 and claimed it was connected to the alleged coup in Côte d’Ivoire. The same video was also shared by Mehmet Vefa Dağ on X that day and was found on more than 10 accounts across Facebook, X, and TikTok.
Apparently GGTV, an X account with 369 followers, was the first to share the video (archived). Even though the X account has few followers, it received over 251,400 views, 2,700 likes, and 926 reposts on the video. However, checks online showed that there were no reports of gunfights in any Côte d’Ivoire cities between May 19 and 22. The video caption appeared to have been misattributed in an attempt to fuel the false coup narrative.
In the second video Bigshai411 uploaded on May 22, he also echoed the same false claim of ongoing gunfire occurring in Abidjan as part of the alleged coup that overthrew Ouattara.
The most striking part of the coup narrative was how videos and images of soldiers from several African nations, including Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso were used to represent Ivorian troops advancing on the Côte d’Ivoire presidential palace in an attempt to overthrow Ouattara.
One such video was posted on May 22 by the TikTok account NANA_AKWASI_TV, showing soldiers with the caption, “See what’s going on after the successful coup in Côte d’Ivoire.” The soldiers were from Guinea, which is currently governed by military leader Mamady Doumbouya, who overthrew President Alpha Condé in a coup in September 2021, according to an analysis of the soldiers’ uniforms and the voices in the video.
The video generated over 120,000 views, 65,900 likes and 1982 comments. Mehmet also uploaded the NANA AKWASI TV Tiktok video on his X account and generated more than 543,000 views,
The online edition of Tell Magazine, a Nigerian weekly publication, published a report on May 21 with the headline: “Gunfire, Chaos, and Coup Rumors: Côte d’Ivoire on the Brink as Uprising Rocks Abidjan.”
The report makes claims without providing verifiable evidence, relying instead on social media posts to assert that at least 33 people are feared dead as clashes intensified in key areas of the capital.
It read, in part: “While official confirmation remains elusive due to an alleged internet blackout and media shutdown, speculation on social platforms—most notably from X (formerly Twitter) user Mehmet Vefa Dag—claims President Ouattara is either missing, arrested, or possibly deceased. No public appearances or official statements have been made since the violence erupted.”
The claim appeared to have originated from Mehmet’s account based on analysis conducted on various Google searches, X, and Facebook using advanced search.
Nigerian newspaper Leadership Newspaper also published a report that echoed the claims made by Tell and Mehmet, alleging that over 33 deaths occurred between May 19 and 20 amid a media blackout and widespread unrest that could potentially escalate into a civil war.
Tell and Leadership’s claim, however, that at least 33 people died in the coup that never occurred in Abidjan, is completely untrue.
Some Accounts Behind the Claims
Mehmet Vefa Dağ, a Turkish national living in South Africa, is at the centre of the disinformation campaign. He leads the Truth and Solidarity Movement, a political group known for radical rhetoric and Pan-African revolutionary messaging.
Numerous accounts, including his political party’s official X account, have reposted Mehmet’s posts. Publicly available information online describe him as a revolutionary thinker who frequently praises AES leaders in Mali and Burkina Faso and regularly calls for military takeovers in African countries he views as being controlled by Western powers.
Between May 20 and 22, Mehmet uploaded 39 TikTok videos and over 110 posts on X, spreading false narratives, praising the supposed coup, and promoting militant Pan-African ideologies.
Habari TV uploaded three videos on Youtube and Facebook regarding the alleged coup.
Bigshai411 is a Nigerian Tiktorker based in Europe. He uploaded three videos which had over one view about the alleged and his focus accordingly includes; posts about Russian President Vladmir Putin, the Russian Ukraine conflict and pan-African content.
NANA AKWASI TV: An examination of the account indicates that it is a pro-AES alliance and a pan-African TikTok account. The account regularly posts content about Russia’s involvement in Africa, Vladimir Putin, and the three presidents of the AES alliance. The Tiktok posted at least 25 videos between May 21 and 24 regarding the Côte d’Ivoire coup.
There were pockets of pro-Biafra IPOB accounts (@Uchekwuckwubiaf4, @General_Somto, @Floydmax11, involved In pushing the false narrative about the fake Côte d’Ivoire coup.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is a banned Nigerian separatist group that Nnamdi Kanu, a British-Nigerian citizen, founded in 2013 to advocate for the independence of Biafra, a proposed state encompassing Nigeria’s southeastern and south-southern regions. Kanu is currently incarcerated in Nigeria.
Hon. Alex Kwame Amoyaw, a Ghanaian Facebook user based in Accra, made his first post May 20, according to his account information. Between May 20 and May 22, he shared six more posts concerning the fake coup.
