CCCC, the Congolese bot hunters who are shaking up the Rwandan digital army

“ 🎯 FIND OUT – REPORT – MARK.”

No, it's not the slogan of a video game, but rather that of the Commando Civil Connecté Congolais , aka CCCC , a collective of young Congolese, both local and from the diaspora, who have decided to take up digital arms against what they call the “Rwandan digital army” . A group of “patriotic geeks” who no longer play. And it's making noise.

THE WAR MOVES: FROM THE HILLS OF NORTH KIVU TO TWITTER TIMELINES

In an already explosive geopolitical context, where the M23 rebel group, supported by Rwanda according to many international sources, continues its murderous advances in eastern Congo, the war is no longer being waged solely with Kalashnikovs. It is also being waged with threads, hashtags, trolls and well-crafted fake news .

TARGET IDENTIFIED – SCALP TO BE OBTAINED @AliceK59798288 operates silently but regularly. An active, disguised relay, discreetly fueling the false narratives. This type of profile is less visible but just as toxic.

📌 No direct tweets, but… pic.twitter.com/1fuPJ9xhkH

— CCCC 🇨🇩☠️ (@CCCC_RDC) March 29, 2025

It was in this digital chaos that the CCCC collective was born. Their mission: to track and suspend accounts they believe are contributing to the M23/AFC's war propaganda by spreading lies, distorted narratives, and demoralizing messages. Their tool? Mass reporting. Their terrain? Twitter (sorry, "X"!).

“ We cannot let the information war be lost when we have the technical means to respond to it, ” explains the founder of the collective, whom we will call Captain 4C to protect his anonymity. “ We are young people, citizens, some in the DRC, others in Paris, Montreal, Nairobi… but all united by the same anger at the gross manipulation of the Congolese narrative online. ”

CCCC: A COMMANDO OF DIGITAL PATRIOTS

The collective's organization is surprisingly professional for a civilian group. Their website, http://4C.Army , states their mission straightforwardly:

🇨🇩 Congolese Connected Civil Commando
☠️ Drive out the Rwandan digital army
⚔️ Join us! #CCCC

They don't just report accounts. They document, archive, and expose disinformation structures. They publish evidence, screenshots, and even identify automated tweet cycles. This is far from a simple call for emotional reporting. All this takes place in an atmosphere of resistance 2.0.

“ We're digital nerds, we know how algorithms work. And if Rwanda thinks it can flood the networks with militarized propaganda, we're here to clean up the mess, ” continues Captain 4C .

A NECESSARY WAR IN TIMES OF WAR

This fight for truth, though virtual, has very real consequences . The collective claims to have succeeded in suspending several dozen pro-M23 accounts , some with thousands of followers. This reduces the amplification of toxic messages, slows the viral spread of fake news, and gives some space to authentic Congolese voices.

But it's not without risk. Some members of the collective are already facing threats, doxxing attempts, and even online intimidation . The response isn't just a deleted tweet—it's a standoff between digital citizens and structured, sometimes even militarized, entities.

For Captain 4C , this changes nothing: “ If we don’t act, we lose. We lose our story, we lose our truths, we lose our young people in the confusion. We are at war. And this war also takes place through networks. ”

A MODEL TO EXPORT?

This kind of spontaneous initiative, unsupervised by NGOs and without international funding, is extremely rare in Africa. A self-organized civilian army that opposes disinformation with structured resistance. The CCCC is not a militant gimmick. It is a digital warfare doctrine that could well inspire other citizen movements across the continent.

They don't ask for likes or subsidies. Just to join them, to support them, and above all, not to remain passive .

“Our weapon is the algorithm. Our shield is the truth. And our mission is the Congo.”
— Captain 4C , founder of the CCCC collective