Propaganda, Agitation, Harassment: Government Communication During the Transition in Mali[Propagande, Agitation, Harcèlement : La communication gouvernementale pendant la transition au Mali]

Since the coup d'état of August 18, 2020 in Mali, the government's close collaboration with activists and "video bloggers" in implementing the communication strategy of successive transitional authorities has led to the discrediting of professional government communication specialists, as well as of public speech more broadly. This hyper-aggressive governmental communication has been marked by the dissemination of content of questionable credibility. Paradoxically, despite the absence of a formal strategy, this form of government communication achieved notable successes. It generated strong public support for the authorities' narratives, particularly through the confrontations staged with the international community, including France, ECOWAS, and others. However, despite this relative success, our study shows that such communication methods—grounded in propaganda, agitation, manipulation, and often falsehoods—cannot be sustained over the long term. Government communication is already experiencing its first setbacks, signaling the beginning of its exhaustion.