There are no available figures to show how much the DRC has spent on overtly anti Rwanda propaganda, but by extrapolation from the known activities aimed specifically at Rwanda, both at home and internationally, it is possible to arrive at a figure in the tens of millions of dollars.
Rwanda’s detractors get beside themselves in decrying Rwandans who take to social media, to challenge anti Rwanda narratives. With reveletions that at least some of these narratives are Ai (Aritificial Intelligence) generated, are the detractors’ accusations really confessions?
Like every other government on earth, the Rwanda government maintains communications departments to inform not only its citizens, but the world beyond its borders. Few if any governments however, are more scrutinised about this, by self styled African experts, as though there were something inherently iniquitous about a nation seeking to put its best foot forward, but only when Rwanda does it.
Instructively, the criticism is virtually never about the integrity of what is communicated, but rather the fact of communicating itself. Consciously or subconsciously the message to Rwanda from its detractors seems to be, you must desist communicating who and what you are, because your doing so just makes our job of campaigning against you more difficult.
Bearing the brunt of the scathing attacks, are the many young Rwandans who have made it their mission to respond to all who malign their country. Like all African countries, Rwanda’s population is predominantly young, with an average age of between twenty and twenty-one. Social media is inevitably central to their lives. Add to that the Rwanda government’s close engagement with its citizens, especially the youth, and few of these young people need no invitation to jump to their country’s defence.
Contrast that with the coordinated blitz against Rwanda, and the glaring question, is why the intense focus on the response and none at all on the reason for that response. In the last two to three years, assaults against Rwanda have reached fever pitch, driven primarily by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
There are no available figures to show how much the DRC has spent on overtly anti Rwanda propaganda, but by extrapolation from the known activities aimed specifically at Rwanda, both at home and internationally, it is possible to arrive at a figure in the tens of millions of dollars.
The offensive involves almost every part of the DRC government, from the Presidency, the Ministry of Foreign affairs, embassies, including at the United Nations, the diaspora, organisations and individuals, and most notably, international media. No expense has been spared on lobbying firms, especially in Europe and the United States of America (USA).
Now we learn that Ai has been added to these efforts. In their report of September 2026, Ai research company, Anthropic, found that in what they called “influence-as-a service” network, France based digital agency company, LKM, was allegedly engaged to produce content targeting Rwanda, in favour of the DRC, especially in relation to any mention of the rebel AFC/M23, in Eastern DRC.
The allegation included prompts to fabricate news websites, with matching Twitter or X accounts. Up to 200 Twitter accounts used to post comments and amplify stories, over 8,000 articles in twenty languages created. Genuine news stories could also be re-written, using a fictional journalist’s name. While the report suggested that LKM acted as a commercial service and could change the slant of the content depending on the client, it also found that the content clearly favoured the DRC against Rwanda.
That so much of the DRC’s government is consumed by animus towards Rwanda, will come as no surprise to any dispassionate observer of the Great Lakes region. More intriguing and perhaps intructive, however, is the apparent desperation of Rwanda’s Western detractors in particular, to paint the country as anything except what it is. The determination that the truth about Rwanda, must be substituted with a fabricated narrative, and the absolute horror that the attempt may fail.
