Although the war in Sudan has entered its fourth year, widespread media disinformation continues unabated. Organized online accounts and pages run by the warring parties dominate the information space by recycling old videos and circulating claims that are difficult or impossible to verify, while newsrooms face growing challenges in confirming facts on the ground.
Since the outbreak of the armed conflict in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the few media institutions still operating have struggled to produce professional reporting free from misleading narratives. At the same time, psychological warfare has become a tool of influence almost as significant as military force, making the search for the truth more difficult than ever.
The consequences of the war have forced more than 90 percent of Sudan’s media institutions to cease operations, leaving the public in a severe information blackout. Of the country’s 22 local radio stations, only three continue to operate intermittently, broadcasting content widely perceived as favoring one side of the conflict. Newspapers have largely disappeared from circulation, while only four local satellite television channels remain on air, all of which are seen as supporting one of the warring parties.
Control of Information
Speaking to Mashawir, Iman Fadl Al-Sayed, Secretary for Freedoms at the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate, said that journalists’ conditions have steadily deteriorated since the war began.
“The suffering has taken many forms, from the closure of media institutions to the direct targeting of journalists. This has significantly weakened war coverage due to the absence of trained war correspondents in Sudanese newspapers and radio stations, as well as limited experience and training in reporting from armed conflict zones,” she said.
She added that even correspondents for international television networks have struggled to accurately convey events despite the growing civilian death toll and the worsening humanitarian crisis affecting displaced people and refugees, with famine reaching its most critical levels. She also noted that social media platforms have increasingly come under the influence of individuals and groups pursuing conflicting political interests.
According to Al-Sayed, “The media affiliated with both sides of the conflict now controls and dominates the flow of information, rejecting the presence of neutral, professional, and credible sources. Each side seeks to ensure that only its own narrative reaches public opinion while preventing the emergence of public sentiment against it.”
She further argued that the war has severely restricted journalists’ movement and access to sources, particularly as both sides have targeted media workers and imposed limitations on their activities. The increasing political polarization has also undermined professional standards, including neutrality, objectivity, and journalistic integrity.
A Parallel Weapon
Former Secretary-General of the Sudanese Press and Publications Council, Hossam El-Din Haider, said that disinformation has become “a parallel weapon” in Sudan’s war.
Speaking to Mashawir, he explained that the conflict’s parties have used social media platforms to amplify false narratives and inflame ethnic and regional divisions, supported by coordinated online networks.
He noted that the most common forms of disinformation include the reuse of images and videos from unrelated conflicts, coordinated campaigns by fake accounts to defame civilians, conceal war crimes, and spread digital abuse and hate speech against journalists, activists, and political actors.
Haider added that the collapse of much of Sudan’s independent media infrastructure has made fact-checking considerably more difficult, creating space for unprofessional and unreliable content to flourish.
Strategies and Alternatives
Meanwhile, fact-checking and media disinformation specialist Abbas Al-Tijani described the situation as a “war of narratives.”
Speaking to Mashawir, he said the warring parties have relied not only on military force but also on organized media systems producing competing narratives designed to shape public opinion.
According to Al-Tijani, disinformation has prolonged the conflict, intensified violence, expanded the scope of the war, and disproportionately harmed the country’s most vulnerable communities.
He argued that the absence of independent journalism throughout the conflict has enabled disinformation to spread unchecked, reinforcing rhetoric that dehumanizes opponents, deepens polarization, and weakens opportunities for dialogue. As a result, distrust among the parties has become increasingly entrenched.
“The impact of disinformation extends far beyond the media,” he said. “Rumors have prompted families to flee to areas they believed were safer, only for fighting to reach those locations later. Inaccurate information about ceasefires and humanitarian corridors has also influenced the decisions of thousands of civilians searching for safety.”
He added that the spread of unverified information has fueled fear, encouraged hate speech, and deepened divisions within Sudanese society.
Al-Tijani stressed that confronting this phenomenon requires stronger support for independent media, investigative journalism capable of exposing organized disinformation networks, greater media and digital literacy, and equipping the public with the skills needed to verify information before sharing it. He also emphasized the vital role civil society organizations can play, particularly in areas lacking access to reliable media and essential services.
He concluded: “Sudan’s war has demonstrated that the battle over information has become inseparable from the conflict itself, and that truth often pays the highest price. Amid a flood of rumors and propaganda, professional journalism, rigorous fact-checking, and reliance on credible sources remain the most effective means of protecting society from disinformation and enabling people to understand events with greater awareness and objectivity.
