Ghana Becomes the Latest Nation Targeted With AI-generated Election Misinformation
A network of 171 fake accounts is using ChatGPT to spam X with content promoting the ruling party of Ghana, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and demeaning its rival, ahead of the country’s December elections — a previously unreported operation discovered by NewsGuard.
The findings follow an October 2024 report from OpenAI that stated that the company, which owns ChatGPT, had identified and blocked bad actors who attempted to use the tool to create election-related content in the U.S., Rwanda, India, and the European Union.
The network, which has been active since at least February 2024, three months after the NPP nominated Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia as its presidential candidate, appears to be run by individuals who support the NPP. One of the network’s main accounts, @jjnaa_gh, lists in its profile: “Member - @TheTPatriots.” This account links to another that describes itself as “Loyalists of @NPP_GH” and “The NPP’s mouthpiece on X.”
NewsGuard could not establish whether the NPP is formally affiliated with the @TheTPatriots.
The network’s posts are identically formatted and published at the same time, indicating coordination. All the posts, which were “highly likely” to have been generated by ChatGPT, according to a tool used by NewsGuard, promote the NPP and candidate Bawumia, touting the party’s supposed achievements in the last four years.
Moreover, the 171 accounts often bear fake-sounding names such “Glenn Washington,” “Netflix Series&Movies,” and “Patriot,” along with artificially generated profile photos. They also advance the same pro-NPP hashtags, including #Bawumia2024, #NPP, and #ItIsPossible, an NPP slogan. “Admiring Dr. Bawumia's commitment to transforming Ghana. His profound impact on our national policies and progress cannot be overstated. #Bawumia2024 #NPP,” said a Sept. 29, 2024, post from a fake account named “Patriot.”
The network also posts content criticizing the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its leader John Mahama, who is running for president against Bawumia. Those posts featured hashtags including #mahamaisaliar and #DrunkmaniMahama. They claim Mahama is a “drunkard.” (Mahama has denied the charge that he is an alcoholic, which has been made against him several times by members of the NPP, according to an article on GhanaWeb.com, a Ghanaian news site.)
The network appears to be the first secretly partisan network using AI to influence elections in Ghana. At least eight people died in election-related violence in 2020, with similar concerns being raised ahead of the December vote.
NewsGuard emailed X and OpenAI, inquiring about the network and its apparent use of ChatGPT. NewsGuard also emailed the NPP and the Bawumia campaign and sent messages on X to the “@TheTPatriots,” inquiring about its links to the NPP and with the broader network, but did not receive any responses.