How Deception Took Hold in Cape Verde
Cape Verde does not have a well-documented canon of spectacular historical hoaxes comparable with the Piltdown Man forgery or the Cottingley Fairies photographs.
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Introduction
The clearest Cape Verdean cases show how deception often succeeds without an elaborate invention. A genuine video can be removed from its original setting, an individual endorsement can be presented as an organisation’s support, or a politician’s image can be placed in a fabricated sexual scene. More recently, artificial intelligence has made impressive-looking national tributes possible without paint, crowds or even a real location. These episodes reveal a recurring pattern: credibility is borrowed from familiar people, trusted institutions, emotionally charged events and realistic-looking media.
Why the evidence is unusually thin
Research devoted specifically to falsehoods in Cape Verde remains limited. A 2022 study of the country’s “fake news ecosystem” concluded that organised external influence was unusual and that misleading material tended to become more visible around elections. It also described a media environment in which Facebook and other social platforms could carry political attacks beyond the reach of traditional editorial controls.[CDD West Africa]cddwestafrica.orgOpen source on cddwestafrica.org.
This does not mean that Cape Verdeans encounter little deception. It means that many episodes have never received the sustained investigation that turns a rumour into a clearly documented case history. Until recently, the country lacked a permanent, structured fact-checking organisation. Cape Verde’s media regulator said in October 2025 that this was a significant institutional gap, particularly as false and misleading material was spreading through social networks and digital platforms.[ARC]arc.cvNotícias17 Oct 2025 — ARC apresenta projeto de criação do Centro de Fact-Checking em Cabo Verde. 17 outubro de 2025. A Autoridade Regu…
A careful account must therefore separate several things that are often bundled together:
- Deliberate fabrication, such as a doctored photograph or invented endorsement.
- Political spin, in which selected facts are presented misleadingly.
- Unverified accusation, which may itself be part of a campaign strategy.
- Sincere mistake or exaggeration, where intent to deceive cannot be demonstrated.
- Fraud, where false identities, job offers or official-looking messages are used for financial gain.
The best-recorded Cape Verdean examples sit along these boundaries rather than fitting the classic model of a single prankster unveiling a spectacular fake.
The 2016 campaign and the manufacture of endorsement
The most detailed investigation concerns the 2016 presidential election. Communication researcher Rui Alexandre Novais studied television broadcasts and Facebook material from incumbent president Jorge Carlos Fonseca and challenger Albertino Graça. He called the phenomenon “legacy disinformation”: misleading claims communicated directly by candidates through speeches and conventional campaign broadcasts, rather than through secret bot networks or anonymous foreign operations.[Ciência-UCP]ciencia.ucp.ptOpen source on ucp.pt.
The study is useful but requires caution. Much of its evidence comes from Graça’s broadcasts, in which the challenger accused Fonseca’s campaign of deception. An accusation made by a rival is not automatically an independent verdict. Novais nevertheless examined the underlying episodes and identified concrete examples involving changed context, implied backing and disputed claims about past conduct.[Ciência-UCP]ciencia.ucp.ptOpen source on ucp.pt.
One case concerned António Monteiro, leader of the Cape Verdean Independent and Democratic Union. A Fonseca broadcast showed Monteiro supporting the president’s re-election. According to the subsequent challenge, the presentation blurred the difference between Monteiro’s individual preference and the position of his party, which had allowed its members freedom of choice. The underlying appearance was genuine; the misleading element lay in presenting personal support in a way that suggested broader institutional endorsement.[Ciência-UCP]ciencia.ucp.ptOpen source on ucp.pt.
A more striking episode involved Idalina Freire, then associated with a national civil-society organisation. Fonseca’s campaign used earlier footage of her from a women’s organisation initiative. The clip was placed in a campaign broadcast even though, according to the investigation, she had not authorised its use as an endorsement and actually supported Graça. Freire then appeared in Graça’s material to clarify her position.[Ciência-UCP]ciencia.ucp.ptOpen source on ucp.pt.
This was not a completely fabricated person, speech or recording. It was a real image given a new political meaning. That technique is especially persuasive because viewers recognise the speaker and see apparently authentic footage. The manipulation occurs in the edit: the original purpose, date and circumstances disappear, allowing the campaign to borrow someone else’s credibility.
The same election also produced a dispute over Fonseca’s response to the 2015 sinking of the ferry Vicente. Fonseca said he had been present during critical national moments and had comforted affected families. Graça’s campaign countered with testimony from relatives and survivors who said they had not received the contact or assistance implied by the claim. Novais classed the episode as exaggeration used to enhance the incumbent’s record.[Ciência-UCP]ciencia.ucp.ptOpen source on ucp.pt.
Here the boundary between hoax and political contest is important. The available study shows a claim being investigated and publicly challenged, but it cannot establish every private contact made after the disaster. The episode belongs in a history of contested truth because it demonstrates how tragedy can be turned into campaign evidence and how testimony can be assembled to dismantle an inflated public narrative.
The pornographic photomontage
One of Cape Verde’s clearest examples of malicious visual fakery was a manipulated photograph depicting a former opposition leader in a pornographic setting. The image was false, and the country’s president publicly condemned it. Reporting on West African disinformation noted that no one was ultimately held responsible for publishing it.[CIGI]cigionline.orgCIGIDisinformation Is Undermining Democracy in West AfricaJuly 4, 2022 — 4 Jul 2022 — In Côte d'Ivoire during its 2020 presidential elect…
The photomontage illustrates why crude fakes can be politically effective even when they are quickly denied. Sexualised fabrications are not primarily designed to survive close forensic examination. They exploit embarrassment, moral judgement and the speed with which shocking imagery circulates. The target must answer an accusation that never deserved credibility, while anonymous distributors gain attention without having to prove anything.
The episode also exposes a gendered and reputational dimension to political deception. Research into Cape Verde’s information environment has observed that pornographic or sexually humiliating fabrications are used as tools of personal destruction rather than substantive political argument. Their function is to contaminate the victim’s name in search results, conversations and private message groups, where the correction rarely travels as far as the original image.[CDD West Africa]cddwestafrica.orgOpen source on cddwestafrica.org.
Unlike satire, such an image offers no clear signal that it is a joke. Unlike ordinary defamation, it presents itself as visual evidence. A viewer may remember the association long after forgetting whether the photograph was authenticated. That lingering mental link is one reason manipulated images remain potent even after exposure.
From manipulated footage to artificial spectacles
In June 2026, a video circulated purporting to show a giant portrait of Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha painted across a seafront plaza in his home country. The footage appeared to have been filmed from a helicopter, giving the supposed tribute a scale and physical presence that made it highly shareable. Reuters found that the scene was generated with artificial intelligence rather than documenting a real public artwork.[Reuters]reuters.comFact Check | ReutersFact Check | Reuters…
This was a different kind of deception from an election attack. The fictional mural celebrated rather than disgraced its subject. It may have been created for engagement, amusement or patriotic excitement rather than to alter a vote or steal money. Nevertheless, it demonstrates how synthetic media can manufacture a national event: a huge artwork, an impressive location and an apparent aerial camera movement can all be simulated.
The emotional setting helped the illusion. Sporting success encourages people to expect murals, public gatherings and grand tributes. A fabricated scene that matches what audiences hope or assume has happened may receive less scrutiny than an obviously hostile claim. The fake therefore borrowed plausibility from genuine pride in the national team and from familiar forms of football commemoration.
Earlier Cape Verdean political manipulation often depended on re-editing real material. Generative technology removes even that constraint. The producer no longer needs old footage of a public figure or access to a physical location. This changes the cost and scale of the trick, but not its basic mechanism: the image succeeds because it fits an emotionally satisfying story.
Commercial frauds that impersonate authority
Cape Verde’s everyday deception history also includes fraudulent recruitment announcements, impersonated organisations and other official-looking solicitations. These are better described as scams than hoaxes because their main purpose is usually to obtain money, documents or personal information.
Fake job offers are particularly effective where the message appears to come from a recognised public body, company or overseas employer. The fraudster may copy a logo, name real officials, advertise an attractive salary and then request an application fee or identity documents. The formal appearance supplies the authority that the criminal does not possess.
Such schemes reveal the same structure seen in political fakery. The deceiver rarely invents an entirely new world. Instead, they borrow fragments of a trusted one:
- a genuine institution’s name;
- a real person’s photograph;
- the language of an official vacancy;
- a familiar national or international logo;
- an urgent deadline that discourages verification.
The difference is in who benefits. Political disinformation seeks reputation, votes or damage to an opponent. Recruitment and identity scams seek direct material gain. Both work by making the victim feel that verification is unnecessary because the message already looks familiar.
How Cape Verde began building a formal response
Cape Verde created its first national fact-checking centre, CV-Fact, through an agreement involving the Regulatory Authority for the Media, the University of Cape Verde and the journalists’ association. The project was formally established in December 2025 and began operating on 20 April 2026, with support from the United Nations Development Programme.[ARC]arc.cvSource details in endnotes.
The centre accepts suspicious links, screenshots, audio, video and messages from the public. Its stated remit includes checking viral claims, explaining its verification methods and teaching media literacy. Its team received training in image and video verification, official-source checking and the ethical handling of disputed claims.[ARC]arc.cvSource details in endnotes.
The creation of CV-Fact changes how future Cape Verdean hoaxes may be recorded. Previously, an altered image or campaign accusation might be condemned in a speech, discussed briefly in the press and then disappear into private Facebook or WhatsApp circulation. A dedicated archive can preserve the claim, the original material, the verification steps and the final assessment.
That matters because the most effective exposure is not simply to label something “fake”. It must show what was altered, identify the authentic source, explain who first promoted the claim and establish which part of the story is false. Cape Verde’s documented cases demonstrate why these distinctions are necessary. A real person may be placed in a false scene; genuine footage may be given a fabricated meaning; an exaggerated memory may be presented as proof of leadership; and an entirely synthetic spectacle may imitate documentary video.
What these cases reveal
Cape Verde’s history of documented fakery is not dominated by monsters, forged antiquities or celebrated newspaper pranks. Its strongest cases are closer to everyday systems of trust: elections, respected community figures, national tragedy, football pride and the promise of employment.
Several lessons recur. First, authenticity is not the same as truth: genuine footage can still mislead when removed from its setting. Second, exposure does not erase reputational damage, particularly when sexualised or humiliating imagery is involved. Third, accusations of disinformation must themselves be examined, because political rivals benefit from portraying opponents as liars. Finally, artificial intelligence has made plausible national spectacles easier to fabricate, even when the story is flattering rather than hostile.
The central question is therefore not whether Cape Verde has been unusually vulnerable to deception. There is no evidence for that. The more revealing question is how familiar authority and emotion are converted into credibility. In the best-documented Cape Verdean cases, the falsehood worked not because it was fantastically inventive, but because it looked sufficiently like something people already knew, trusted or wanted to believe.
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Endnotes
1.
Source: arc.cv
Link:https://www.arc.cv/arc/noticias/375
Source snippet
Notícias17 Oct 2025 — ARC apresenta projeto de criação do Centro de Fact-Checking em Cabo Verde. 17 outubro de 2025. A Autoridade Regu...
2.
Source: ciencia.ucp.pt
Link:https://ciencia.ucp.pt/files/90453482/28475696.pdf
3.
Source: cigionline.org
Link:https://www.cigionline.org/articles/disinformation-is-undermining-democracy-in-west-africa/
Source snippet
CIGIDisinformation Is Undermining Democracy in West AfricaJuly 4, 2022 — 4 Jul 2022 — In Côte d'Ivoire during its 2020 presidential elect...
Published: July 4, 2022
4.
Source: reuters.com
Title: Fact Check | Reuters
Link:https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/
Source snippet
Fact Check | Reuters...
5.
Source: arc.cv
Link:https://www.arc.cv/arc/index.php/noticias/406
Source snippet
"ARCCentro de Verificação de Factos inicia atividade20 Apr 2026 — O centro funcionará através de uma plataforma digital ([https://caboverde..."](https://caboverde...")...
6.
Source: arc.cv
Link:https://www.arc.cv/arc/noticias/382
Source snippet
Criado primeiro Centro de Verificação de Factos de Cabo...10 Dec 2025 — Assim, o CV-Fact tem por objeto assegurar a verificação indep...
7.
Source: arc.cv
Link:https://www.arc.cv/arc/noticias/398
8.
Source: arc.cv
Link:https://www.arc.cv/arc/noticias/390
9.
Source: cddwestafrica.org
Link:https://www.cddwestafrica.org/uploads/reports/file/A-Report-on-Fake-News-in-Cabe-Verde-1.pdf
Additional References
10.
Source: kclpure.kcl.ac.uk
Link:https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/169647304/Fake_News_Cabo_Verde_1_1.pdf
Source snippet
"King's College LondonECOSYSTEM'Risco de “fake news” em Cabo Verde é baixo, mas arquipélago não está imune. Available at [https://inforpres..."](https://inforpres...")...
11.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orM-ULHEDMg
Source snippet
ARC promete Centro de Verificação de Factos ainda este ano, para combater desinformação em CV...
12.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTBi0bARy9c
Source snippet
CNE promove encontro alargado sobre desinformação, "fake news" e uso das novas tecnologias...
13.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt5Z7HDkhrQ
Source snippet
Fake news em debate na Uni-CV | Fala Cabo Verde...
14.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Fake news em debate na Uni-CV | Fala Cabo Verde
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZotepDrdtk
Source snippet
Comissão Nacional de Eleições analisa riscos da desinformação e informações falsas nas eleições...
15.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gttw1f-8URI
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