A Central African opposition platform called for the opening of an investigation following revelations by the United States Anthropic about the use of its Claude AI by a Russian agent to produce content intended to discredit opponents.
© Reuters
26/09/2026
by
Lusa
“IT IS a criminal action, because the intention is to cause harm,” Martin Ziguélé, spokesman for the Republican Block of Defense of the Constitution (BRDC), told AFP, the opposition platform that accuses the Russian paramilitary group Wagner of trying to “criminalize” the opposition leaders to “silence”.
In a report published this month, the American artificial intelligence company (IA) Anthropic said he identified and interrupted a “secret operation orchestrated by the Russian State, designed to manipulate and disrupt the informational space of the Central African Republic” through a local radio station.
“ Whenever the user generated content, he explicitly asked Claude to incorporate pro-Russia and anti-French arguments in the articles, as well as “hostile arguments to the Central African opposition,” the report said.
Anthropic also points out that the “Russian actor” organized “a regular monitoring operation to monitor and update data on political figures from the Central African opposition.”.
“Claude refused to meet the most aggressive request of the operation, which consisted of labeling real people as militants to provoke security measures against them,” the report adds.
Anthropic claimed to have eliminated the account and organization associated with this activity and linked the agent to a Russian influence structure linked to Wagner and Africa Corps.
“ They want to criminalize us, introduce us as criminals so that we are prosecuted and silenced,” Ziguélé denounced, accusing Wagner of defending his own political, economic and security interests in the country.
Ziguélé did not specify whether the platform had complained to the judicial authorities.
The Central African Republic has been governed since 2016 by President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, whose government maintains close relations with Moscow.
Wagner's members have been present in the country for several years and have even participated in security operations alongside Central African forces.