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Hackers of the heart: digital sorcery and virtual intimacy in Côte d'Ivoire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 August 2021

Sasha Newell
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Abstract

This is an ethnography of internet scams in Abidjan through which I attempt to develop a theory of digital sorcery. The brouteurs of Côte d'Ivoire impersonate Europeans in social media profiles and seduce others into falling in love with them. After months of flirtatious messaging and photo exchanges, disaster strikes their avatar and they ask for an emergency wire transfer from their digital lover. While millions of euros of income are sent to Abidjan every year, the brouteurs say they can no longer succeed without the use of occult forces, and they turn to marabouts for assistance. During my fieldwork in 2015, rumours circulated that brouteur wealth depended on the blood sacrifice of children for its success. As Ivoirians increasingly employ smartphones and social media in their daily life, the anxieties concerning the illusions and manipulations of the virtual world become enmeshed with those of the occult second world. I suggest that the overlap between hacker technology, con artistry and occult power outlined in Ivoirian urban rumour suggests a model for rethinking the space of virtuality in the global economy as a form of magical semiosis, one that can be every bit as vitality draining as witchcraft itself.

Résumé

Résumé

Il s'agit d'une ethnographie des arnaques sur Internet à Abidjan à travers laquelle je tente de développer une théorie de la sorcellerie numérique. Les brouteurs de Côte d'Ivoire se font passer pour les Européens dans les profils des réseaux sociaux et séduisent d'autres personnes à tomber amoureuses d'eux. Après des mois d’échanges des messages et photos de flirt, une catastrophe frappe leur avatar et ils demandent un virement bancaire d'urgence à leur amant numérique. Alors que des millions d'euros de revenus sont envoyés à Abidjan chaque année, les brouteurs disent qu'ils ne peuvent plus réussir sans le recours aux forces occultes et ils se tournent vers les marabouts pour obtenir de l'aide. Lors de mon travail de terrain en 2015, des rumeurs ont circulé selon lesquelles la richesse du brouteur dépendait du sacrifice du sang des enfants pour son succès. Comme les Ivoiriens utilisent de plus en plus les smartphones et les réseaux sociaux dans leur vie quotidienne, les inquiétudes concernant les illusions et les manipulations du monde virtuel se mêlent à celles du second monde occulte. Je suggère que le chevauchement entre la technologie des hackers, l'art de l'arnaque et le pouvoir occulte décrit dans la rumeur urbaine ivoirienne suggère un modèle pour repenser l'espace de la virtualité dans l’économie mondiale comme une forme de sémiosis magique, qui peut être tout aussi destructrice de vitalité que la sorcellerie elle-même.

Type
Digital sorcery and virtual intimacy
Information
Africa , Volume 91 , Issue 4 , August 2021 , pp. 661 - 685
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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