Investigation Exposes Fake Accounts Aiming to Manipulate Moroccan Elections

A recent investigation published by Hawamich, a Moroccan news outlet specializing in investigative journalism, has exposed a network of fake accounts operating for more than four years to influence Moroccan public opinion and aiming to manipulate elections. The unmasked network coordinated campaigns targeting political opponents in favor of the party of Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, primarily through the spread of misinformation, according to the findings.

The journalist identified the network by tracking comments posted by anonymous accounts on political news publications. Many of these comments appeared dozens of times across different profiles, revealing a coordinated fake digital system designed to push a specific political narrative while hiding behind falsified online identities.

The journalist who worked for months on this investigation monitored and analyzed a large amount of data, uncovering a network of more than 140 accounts, mostly fake, self-identifying as real Moroccan citizens.

He discovered this network after a controversial incident involving Abdelilah Benkirane, secretary-general of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), which is now in the opposition, and former Moroccan Prime Minister. In April 2024, Benkirane used a controversial word in Moroccan dialect meaning “drugged” during a speech in Fez. The moment was later extracted and turned into a 42-second video posted on the official Facebook page of Lahcen Saady, Secretary of State in charge of Handicrafts and the Social and Solidarity Economy, and a member of the ruling majority party. 

The edited clip focused on the word, taking it out of context and the altered video quickly sparked anger and resentment among the users and residents of the Fez, where the speech had been delivered.

The investigation revealed that the edited clip quickly circulated as part of a coordinated campaign, initially shared by an account named “Fatine Sabrine.” This account first posted the secretary of state’s video in party-related groups and then to local city groups. The doctored clip was later widely circulated by other fake accounts linked to the same identified network, and most of them used sarcastic language in their posts.

In the same context, days before the partial elections in Fez, between April 17 and 22, 2024, some of these accounts, along with others connected to the same network, pushed a coordinated campaign on Facebook, amplifying digital content related to the election campaign on the page of Khalid Al-Ajli, the National Rally of Independents (RNI) candidate in Fez. Later, the election results showed the RNI candidate winning with 9,767 votes, while the Justice and Development Party candidate came in second with 3,854 votes.

This investigation, supported by Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), revealed that the accounts spreading the edited video displayed very limited personal information. Their friend lists were very limited, sometimes including connections from foreign countries (Asia, Egypt), and most profiles contained a few photos, often from the internet and online clothing stores. 

Although many of these accounts were created recently, around 2023, they were highly active in commenting on posts related to the ruling party, its members’ activities, election campaigns, and government performance.

The investigation also revealed that many comments were pre-written and copy-pasted, with some of them being repeated consistently over the past four years. The journalist monitoring the accounts observed intense daily activity, with posts criticizing key political events such as teachers’ strikes and investigations related to fuel files, in addition to coordinated campaigns targeting political opponents.

From January 2022 until August 2025, the report tracked an account group repeatedly posting identical texts in nearly 529 posts, revealing a network of 143 accounts engaged in a coordinated campaign promoting and pushing the majority party's narrative. 

The journalist conducted identity verification and confirmed most of these accounts either used fake identities or impersonated real users, regardless of their political convictions or opinions.

The findings also pointed out that these accounts were active in debates on price inflation, spreading misleading information about the impact of exempting cattle and sheep importers from national taxes. They falsely suggested that this measure implicated a decline in beef and lamb prices, while the story was related to a limited offer in one of the markets. 

Additionally, the journalist traced these profiles’ activity back to the legislative election campaign in Morocco in 2021 leading to the National Rally of Independents (RNI) winning the election and forming the government. 

Coordinated Networks Provide Political Information Manipulation Services

The research revealed a posting pattern which is difficult for the average user to replicate. The network achieved an exceptionally rapid posting rate, and the findings showed that the network operated in clusters, with each cluster consisting of several accounts. The accounts took turns posting a set of “specific texts” on particular topics, “ensuring that the same text was not repeated by two accounts in a single post.”

According to a legal expert cited in the investigation’s report, political parties have been exploiting this legislative gap since the 2021 elections by using fake accounts funded to promote their electoral programs. According to the expert, the Moroccan law does not regulate the existence of fake accounts themselves but focuses on the content they post rather than the identity of the account owner. 

Law No. 27.11 of the House of Representatives stipulates that anyone who uses false news, rumors, or other deceptive methods to sway voters or prevent voting can face imprisonment of one month to one year and a fine ranging from approximately $1,080 to $5,400. Nevertheless, according to the expert, in practice, creating a fake account and running an advertising campaign for a parliamentarian, community leader, or specific candidate does not currently trigger legal action. 

It is worth noting that these networks operate on Facebook despite Meta’s policy explicitly prohibiting users from creating fake identities or using fake accounts. The investigation findings came after the Oxford report on the Global Inventory of Organized Social Media Manipulation, which revealed that since 2018, more than 65 companies have emerged offering information manipulation services to political actors. These companies operate in 81 countries and specialize in spreading online political propaganda on behalf of their clients.

Controversial Law Article on Questioning Election Integrity in Morocco

This investigation also comes amid weeks of controversy surrounding a draft law article criminalizing the questioning of the integrity and credibility of Moroccan elections, presented by the Moroccan Interior Minister to the Parliamentarian interior committee along with a draft law project related to the House of Representatives and another two draft laws on the electoral process, ahead of the 2026 legislative and municipal elections, which are expected to be more competitive.

The controversial article stipulates prison sentences and fines for anyone who spreads rumors or false news through modern media and communication technologies with the intention of undermining the integrity and credibility of elections.

Moroccan politicians and human rights activists described the proposed law as a violation of free speech, while supporters claimed it is necessary to protect the Moroccan electoral process amid a widespread fake news wave and the increasing use of artificial intelligence in falsifying facts and deceiving the public opinion. The Minister later proposed a revised wording for the controversial article, which the majority of MPs agreed to initially, while others requested to review the final version of the article before granting their approval.

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