Somalia Locked in Battle Against Digital Extremism

ADF STAFF

Somalia and the al-Shabaab terrorist group are fighting a war within a war — a constant battle to prop up and take down websites and social media accounts that disseminate extremist propaganda and disinformation.

Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency has stepped up its efforts by creating teams that scour the internet and alert tech companies to remove extremist content.

“It was a difficult task when we started; it needed knowledge, skills and a lot of work,” Deputy Information Minister Abdirahman Yusuf al-Adala told Voice of America this year. “We trained people with the necessary skills; special offices have been set up, equipment has been made available and legislation has been passed by the parliament. “More than a year later, we are in a good position, we believe we have achieved many of our targets.”

Al-Adala and Minister of Information Daud Aweis recently announced an offensive against misinformation and incitement of violence.

“Together, we can overcome this dangerous menace that threatens to tear us apart,” Aweis said in a speech at the conclusion of a two-day forum on June 5 in Mogadishu. “Together, we can build a society founded on trust, respect and understanding. Let us stand united against fake news and misinformation, for the sake of our country and the well-being of our people.”

Mohamed Gulaid, an internet trust and safety researcher who formerly worked with Facebook’s parent company, Meta, said al-Shabaab relies heavily on platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp, where content moderation is more challenging because of encryption.

“Al-Shabaab consistently engages in misinformation, often exaggerating their operational impact and overstating their influence or control,” Gulaid told VOA. “When it comes to disinformation, al-Shabaab often manipulates broader themes such as nationalism and the lack of service delivery by the Somali government to further their agenda. They portray themselves as more effective and a nationalist force safeguarding Somalia’s sovereignty.”

Adam Hadley, executive director of the nonprofit Tech Against Terrorism, said al-Shabaab is among the most sophisticated of the malign actors that his organization works to disrupt online.

“Much of this content is quite subtle and nuanced, and it takes quite a lot of time to establish that this type of material is in fact misinformation or fake news,” he told VOA. “In one particular case, we found an entire news website that had a suspicious concentration of material that was pro al-Shabaab and pro al-Qaida. … At no point did we find any obvious graphic or violent material on this site. It was almost pretending to provide a news service.”

Al-Shabaab operates several online and radio outlets that target Somali and Kenyan audiences. Shahada News Agency is a prominent messenger that purports to be an organization “interested in East Africa and Somalia news.” Shahada typically posts on Chirpwire, a platform with no content-moderation policies. But it also uses accounts on mainstream platforms Facebook and X to replicate and further disseminate its content.

Al-Kataib is another al-Shabaab media outlet that operates mostly on Telegram with multiple channels in multiple languages. Code for Africa, a nonprofit with teams and partners in 21 countries on the continent, established a connection between Al-Kataib and Shahada News Agency in a 2023 investigation.

“The intricate interplay between these media arms sheds light on the depth of al-Shabaab’s digital reach and the sophistication of its propaganda machinery,” the report stated. “Decoding the operations of Al-Kataib and Shahada News Agency is a key to dismantling al-Shabaab’s web of extremist influence.”