Bangladesh, Dec. 1 -- A sophisticated network of bot-like social media accounts and Congolese media outlets has been pushing a misleading narrative designed to sanitize the image of sanctioned mining tycoon Dan Gertler. The campaign, uncovered by Global Witness, represents yet another chapter in the long battle over who controls not only the Democratic Republic of the Congos resources but also the narrative surrounding corruption in the mining sector.

Gertler-long accused by the US Treasury of siphoning off hundreds of millions from Congos mineral wealth through opaque deals-remains under sanctions imposed in 2017. Yet the new digital effort seeks to convince Congolese citizens that he has been fully exonerated of wrongdoing, using selec...