When Haiti’s interim Prime Minister and de facto president Claude Joseph reported the death of Jovenel Moise early Wednesday morning, the news not only set the world abuzz, it sent Haitian social media into overdrive. With Haiti shooting back into the international spotlight, messaging applications and social media feeds are overflowing with outright false or outdated information and conspiracy “who-dun-it” theories.
On Saturday morning, many heard a voice message posted to the Twitter account of Haiti First Lady Martine Moise, who was seriously injured in the attack and recovering from gunshot wounds in Florida. Listeners soon realized, after comparing to previous recordings, that the voice in the audio released on Twitter does not belong to Moïse.
Fake images of the dead president were also circulating on social media since his June 7 assassination. One image apparently showed the body of Jovenel Moise with its face wrapped in gauze. The judge of the peace that examined the scene said the image was not Jovenel’s body, The Haitian Times has confirmed.
The rapid spread of misleading information is common during any time of crisis, those who study misinformation have said. False news stories were rampant in Haiti and worldwide during the initial spread of COVID-19 last spring. Misinformation has spread through social media and popular messaging tools like WhatsApp, a private app that is especially difficult to monitor.
Rumors have circulated on the app, including a story that the assassination was a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raid gone wrong. A spokesperson for the State Department said that claims of DEA involvement are “absolutely false.”
Amid speculation about who was responsible for Moise’s death, a Le Nouvelliste article from August 2020 detailing the arrest of entrepreneur Dimitri Vorbe in Miami was shared on Twitter. There have been no reports of an arrest of Vorbe since July 7.
One of the most prominent fake stories emerged in the early morning hours of July 7, saying falsely that Martine Moise was also killed. Legitimate media have since reported that, contrary to the rumors, Moise remains alive and is being treated for her injuries in Florida.
Among the numerous other instances of outdated news, images circulated on social media depicting the foreign mercenaries who were arrested in 2019, while transporting a stockpile of ammunition around Haiti.
While Haiti’s ambassador to the United States Bocchit Edmond has blamed foreign mercenaries for the assassination of Moise, none of the people identified in the 2019 incident have been named as suspects.
