AI-Generated Video Falsely Claims to Show Burkina Faso Leader Ibrahim Traoré Criticizing Western Countries

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Western countries are exerting various pressures on the developing countries of the world, and there are hardly any leaders who raise their voices against this. Despite this situation, the current leader of Burkina Faso has managed to capture the attention of the entire world because of his actions for his country. Therefore misleading statements and posts are circulating on social media based on it, and we have taken steps to investigate the facts on those.

 Social Media Posts :

A video purportedly showing a speech by the Burkina Faso leader, Ibrahim Traoré was circulated on social media with the caption “The story of the African leader who shamed Western countries” (“බටහිර රටවල රෙදි ගලවපු අප්‍රිකානු නායකනයාගේ කතාව”)

This video shows a speech he makes against the powerful countries that lead the world authority. He points out that CNN, BBC, France24 and other Western media outlets have been manipulating the media for centuries to create a false perception of Africa. He states that photographs and videos of flies, cars, children, dry grass, war and death are shown as Africa, and people think that in Africa, there is no success, development, resistance, respect and pride, but that is not the case inside the country. He also mentions the benefits of investments made in Africa through his speech. 

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This is how these videos were widely circulated among social media users.

We took steps to investigate whether this is a true story.

Fact- Check :

We first checked the international media, as international media constantly reports the statements and actions of the President of Burkina Farso, Ibrahim Traoré. If Traoré actually made such a statement, it should have been reported through the media outlets that he mentions in his speech, but we didn’t find any report on his speech in those media outlets.

Also, Ibrahim Traoré, who was born on March 14, 1988, should be 37 years old by now, and in the above video, he states that he is 34 years old.

However, we entered this video into a Reverse Image search and we found that this video has been shared through many social media platforms. However, this video was not published on main social media platforms such as YouTube.

Meanwhile, our attention was drawn to a YouTube channel called Univers Inspirant, which frequently featured statements made by Ibrahim Traoré, as well as videos related to him. The circulated video was published through the channel on May 25th.

We also noticed an important notice in the description of this video, which stated that although inspired by the life of Ibrahim Traoré, the content of this video is fictional.

The notice states that the video was created only for entertainment purposes and is purely fictional. Although it has been inspired by Ibrahim Traoré’s life and real incidents and characters, it is not directly connected to the real-life characters and incidents. It further states that the video is also not meant to convey a political purpose but rather was created for entertainment.

Also, the video contained a note on how the video was made, and it states that the video was digitally generated and was significantly edited.

Similarly, on many videos related to Ibrahim Traoré on the channel, the description states that the videos were fictional videos created digitally for entertainment. You can refer to some of those videos here, here and here.

However, some of the facts stated in the video have been actually acted upon by him, and he has also expressed his opposition to colonialism by Western countries.

Ibrahim Traoré

Ibrahim Traoré is a Burkinabe military officer who has also served as the president of the West African country of Burkina Faso since 2022. Traoré took power in Burkina Faso in September 2022. He is currently the second-youngest head of state in the world.

Ibrahim Traoré received much global attention, particularly due to his anti-colonial stance.

BBC media reports that Ibrahim Traoré has masterfully constructed the persona of a pan-African leader determined to free his nation from the clutches of Western imperialism and neo-colonialism.

Media reports also indicate that he is being referred to as the “Che Guevara of Africa.”

After he seized power in a coup in 2022, Traoré’s regime abandoned former colonial power France in favor of a strong alliance with Russia. It included the deployment of a Russian paramilitary force and reportedly adopted left-wing economic policies.

This included the establishment of a state-owned mining company, which required foreign companies to be given a 15% stake in their local operations and transfer skills to the Burkinabe people.

The rule also applied to Russian miner Nordgold, which was granted a license in late April for its latest investment in Burkina Faso’s gold industry.

To gain the maximum benefits from its mineral resources, Traoré is currently building up a gold refinery, establishing national gold reserves for the first time in the nation’s history.

The junta has also nationalized two gold mines previously owned by a London-listed company, and last month, it announced plans to take control of more foreign-owned mines.

A researcher at the South African Institute for Security Studies told the BBC that Traoré’s radical reforms had increased his popularity in Africa.

Join us to learn more about our investigative fact findings.

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