Description: An image circulating on social media appeared to show Rwandan President Paul Kagame wearing a military uniform with an M23 label, referencing the rebel group active in eastern DRC. Fact-checking organization PesaCheck found no credible sources supporting the image and used AI-detection tools to determine it was likely AI-generated. The image was reportedly used to imply Kagame's affiliation with M23 amid ongoing regional tensions and allegations of Rwandan support for the group.
Editor Notes: The earliest known instance of this reported deepfake is January 10, 2025, which is the formal incident date for this ID. The PesaCheck report on it was published March 20, 2025.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Unknown deepfake technology developer developed an AI system deployed by Unknown disinformation actors and Unknown disinformation actor targeting Paul Kagame, which harmed Paul Kagame , Government of Rwanda , General public of Rwanda , General public of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Regional peacebuilding efforts in the African Great Lakes region.
Alleged implicated AI system: Unknown deepfake technology
Incident Stats
Incident ID
1098
Report Count
1
Incident Date
2025-01-10
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
This photo circulating on X (formerly Twitter) claiming to show Rwanda's President Paul Kagame in an M23-labelled army uniform is FAKE.
The photo shows President Kagame wearing military fatigues with a badge labelled "M23," implying a conne…
Variants
A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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