top of page

Lines of Power: Tribe and Politics in Sudan’s War

During the April 15, 2023 war, social media platforms in Sudan became an active political arena where tribal discourse, hate speech, and racism are reproduced.


This report, issued by the Social Media Observatory of the Youth Citizens Observers Network (YCON), examines patterns of tribal presence in the digital space and explores the relationship between tribal discourse, incitement, and hate speech. The analysis is based on more than 22,000 posts published on Facebook, TikTok, and X during October 2025.

The data show that the tribe has become a central political actor within the digital space during the war, as it appears that 83.3% of tribal posts occurred in a direct political context, and 78% of this political presence was linked to war events, including mobilization and alert, declaring positions, and the frequent appearance of local administration leaders in political meetings or in messages directed to public opinion. This indicates the tribe's transition from a traditional social framework to a digital political actor with a clear influence on shaping public attitudes.

On the other hand, the report reveals a widespread prevalence of various forms of hate speech and tribal racism, with 82% of tribal content containing one or more patterns of hostile discourse. The most prominent patterns included: tribal division, dehumanization, incitement to violence, demonization, as well as abuses related to lineage, origin, or color. Qualitative analysis shows that these speeches are not used as individual expressions, but are reshaped within collective narratives that frame the war as a conflict between entire population groups, not merely between political or military parties.

The results indicate that the digital space has become one of the arenas of symbolic struggle in Sudan, where narratives are produced, identities are reshaped, and the 'us/them' dichotomies are amplified, with algorithms contributing to the spread of the most charged and polarizing content. This reality poses a direct threat to the possibility of building sustainable peace, given its role in deepening social divisions, weakening trust in civil institutions, and reinforcing reliance on tribal frameworks as sources of protection and legitimacy.

The report concludes with the need to adopt urgent interventions to confront hate speech, including supporting grassroots initiatives, developing partnerships with social media platforms to monitor hostile content in local dialects, promoting responsible media, enacting effective legislation to criminalize incitement, as well as supporting alternative discourse based on citizenship, rights, and justice as foundations for social cohesion and peace.

To read the full report, please click on the following link:


 
 
bottom of page