At a time when Burkina Faso is still healing the wounds of a decade-long fight against terrorism, a new, more insidious weapon is being deployed against our nation: mass manipulation through propaganda and disinformation. The imperialist powers, which have never accepted the regained sovereignty of our peoples, have realized that they can no longer defeat us on the battlefield. That is why they are changing their strategy and are now attacking our minds and hearts.
Using artificial intelligence technologies, these hostile forces are now creating doctored voice recordings and videos. They produce fake voice recordings, manipulated images, and false narratives claiming that terrorist groups now control our territory, with the aim of sowing fear, division, and mistrust among the population to provoke popular uprisings and ultimately destabilize the country entirely.
We must strongly condemn this act of sabotage. The authorities are waging a heroic struggle to reclaim our territory and restore our dignity. The efforts on the ground and the sacrifices made by our Defense and Security Forces and the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland are very real and deserve the support of the entire nation.
This disinformation campaign is specifically aimed at undermining trust between the people and their legitimate leaders. It is a form of psychological warfare that we must all be aware of and prepared for.
Therefore, let us call on every Burkinabe every daughter and son of our nation to exercise the utmost vigilance. Let us not blindly share what we see or hear on social media. Let us verify the information, cross-check sources, and report suspicious content. When faced with an alarming video or recording, let us first ask ourselves: Who stands to gain from this? The answer is sometimes very revealing.
The unity of our people is our greatest strength. Those who seek to divide us, spread misinformation, and create doctored images know this. As long as we remain united behind our authorities and our homeland, no doctored footage or fabricated video will be able to divert us from our destiny.
People of Burkina Faso, let us remain vigilant, keep our confidence, and defend our sovereignty together. Burkina Faso will yield neither to the bullets of terrorists nor to the lies of imperialists.
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