(Ottawa) The Israeli government is accused, in public reports, of being involved in an operation aimed at reducing support for Palestinians in Canada, reported by artificial intelligence researchers.
Israel rejects the claim, reported by the New York Times and Israeli newspaper Haaretz, that it is behind the social media influence campaign in which researchers say North Americans are being targeted by Islamophobic content.
Accounts named Citizens United for Canada posted content depicting Canadian Muslims as threatening Western values and suggesting that pro-Palestinian protesters in Canada sought to implement Sharia law.
The Digital Forensic Research Lab, a project led by the Atlantic Council, a major Washington think tank, first denounced these publications in an analysis in March.
He noted that the campaign used artificial intelligence to edit remarks made by a bearded man wearing a Muslim skullcap at a rally. He also noted that a photo of Muslims holding a banner had been digitally altered, making the poster appear “Sharia Law for Canada.”
The accounts used AI-generated profile photos and repeatedly posted similar messages, often seeking media coverage directly from Canadian journalists and media outlets. An Instagram post warns people to be wary “if illiberal Islam wants to get on your hockey team.”
The group “may have hijacked existing accounts,” the think tank wrote. Meta said it decided to shut down affiliated Facebook profiles after receiving queries from the think tank.
In its “Quarterly Adversarial Threat Report” released last month, Meta confirmed that it had shut down more than 500 accounts linked to the campaign.
“This network originated in Israel and primarily targeted audiences in the United States and Canada,” the report said, with Meta claiming the accounts “posing as Jewish students, African Americans, and concerned citizens” and involving “the creation of fictional media.”
“The campaign purchased inauthentic engagement (i.e. likes and followers) in Vietnam in an attempt to make its content more popular than it was,” the statement said. Meta report.
“As the individuals behind this project attempted to conceal their identity and coordination, we found connections to STOIC, a political marketing and economic intelligence company based in Tel Aviv, Israel. She is now banned from our platform. »
The Israeli investigative site Fake Reporter reported Wednesday that the site targeting Canadians is hosted on the same IP address that has launched numerous other accounts targeting pro-Palestinian activists, for example amplifying concerns about campus protests.
The New York Times and Haaretz said in articles Wednesday that STOIC’s work was commissioned and paid for by the Israeli government. The Canadian Press has not independently verified these claims.
The company declined to comment on this information to both media outlets and could not be contacted by The Canadian Press. The company’s LinkedIn page was recently deleted, and its website does not list any contact information.
The Israeli Embassy in Ottawa provided a statement from that ministry, as well as the government agency Voices of Israel, which was also accused of receiving funds for the influence campaign.
“The Ministry of Diaspora and the Fight against Anti-Semitism and the Voices of Israel initiative categorically deny any involvement in disinformation campaigns,” the statement said.
“We would like to clarify that neither the Ministry of Diaspora nor Voices of Israel have any ties or collaborative activities with STOIC. Any claim suggesting otherwise is completely unfounded and inaccurate. »
The office of the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Dominic LeBlanc, had no immediate response when asked to comment on these reports.
Although Facebook, Instagram and X have suspended several accounts linked to United Citizens of Canada, the campaign still has an active and sparse website that advocates against “overly liberal immigration policies.” The website does not list contact information.
The Fake Reporter site found that accounts targeting Canadians amplified other accounts with suspicious activity that sought to undermine the United Nations agency dedicated to Palestinians, known as UNRWA.
