Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al-Rishq: What the occupation failed to achieve through genocide and starvation over two full years, it could not attain through negotiations.
Al-Rishq: Throughout every stage of the negotiations, our hearts and eyes were with our people in Gaza, that pure blood and those great sacrifices are bound by a pledge of loyalty and sacrifice.
Al-Rishq: The agreement is a national achievement par excellence, embodying our people's unity and alignment with the choice of resistance as the path to confronting the Zionist occupation.
Al-Rishq: This agreement stems from our historic responsibility toward our great people, our commitment to our legitimate rights, and it crowns the achievements of our resistance.
Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq: The ceasefire is the result of the great sacrifices and legendary patience of our people, as well as the strength and steadfastness of the resistance.
Palestinians in Gaza celebrate the declaration of a ceasefire.
Netanyahu’s office: A government meeting will be held on October 9 to approve the Gaza agreement.
Hani Al-Dali to Al Mayadeen: Aid will be delivered to the Gaza Strip in accordance with the humanitarian protocol signed on January 19.
Hani Al-Dali to Al Mayadeen: According to the agreement, 1,700 prisoners abducted from Gaza following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood will be released, including children and women.
Hani al-Dali to Al Mayadeen: 250 Palestinian prisoners with extreme and life sentences will be released.

'Israel's' online influence operations target US lawmakers

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Israeli media
  • 19 Mar 2024 17:52
  • 5 Shares
7 Min Read

Hundreds of bogus identities boosted three unknown "news sites" to further Israeli goals and target US lawmakers.

  • x
  • Israel's online influence operations target US lawmakers
    US Congress members Jamaal Bowman, Rashida Tlaib, Jonathan Jackson, and Cori Bush, during a vigil with state legislators and faith leaders currently on hunger strike outside the White House, to demand US President Joe Biden call for a ceasefire in Gaza on November 29, 2023. (AP)

According to an Israeli web watchdog, Fake Reporter, there has been an active Israeli influence campaign working across a variety of platforms, employing hundreds of fake identities - or avatars, to push "Israeli interests" online among young Western audiences.

The effort is not only centered on spreading disinformation but rather magnifying false accusations on aid organizations and the Palestinian Resistance, as well as the events of October 7.

The report found three main "news sites" built specifically for the operation, which contain publications from other news sources like CNN, The Guardian, and other outlets. Avatars heavily pushed the "reports" from the campaign's sites while also sharing screenshots from actual ones, such as a Wall Street Journal piece on UNRWA staff members' alleged involvement with the Palestinian Resistance movement, Hamas.

Over 500 distinct avatars were discovered on the three social media platforms. They shared pieces with nearly similar phrasing and links to what Fake Reporter dubbed "the three main assets" of the influence operation: UnFold Magazine, Non-Agenda, and The Moral Alliance. The day UnFold's X profile was established coincided with the creation of many avatars. Unfold and Non-Agenda have active websites, in addition to social media presence, and have several technical traits that show they are related to each other and were created as part of the same operation.

The sites share 40,000 followers on social media, and both have tried to artificially increase pro-Israeli publications, emphasizing Zionism and Jewish history and reaffirming false reports of rape and sexual assault on October 7.

In an attempt to appeal to progressive audiences, the sites also published reports about climate change, AI regulation, the state of democracy around the world, and even Jewish history.

There were also stories on culture, such as the Oscars, and researchers think they were meant to attract non-political visitors to the sites and boost their social media following, who would eventually view pro-"Israel" information.

Researchers discovered that the majority of the information was duplicated, most likely mechanically, from other reputable media outlets, and was either copied in its entirety or used as the foundation for what seems to be an automated rewrite. The website also published original content, which might have been created automatically using AI; for example, a real UN report on sexual violence was written up on Non-Agenda.

A shared history

Many avatars declared they were Black Americans and attributed the fight for equality to have been supported by the Jewish people, vowing solidarity.
 
The avatars distributed the many reports made on the three sites. For instance, UnFold's material emphasized "Israel" and the West's common principles, as well as the liberal values at the center of Judeo-Christian civilization.

Non-Agenda also featured broader topics concerning Jewish history, such as refuting misunderstandings about Judaism or emphasizing Jews' historical ties to the region. It was originally founded to reach a larger audience and has the most social media following. Non-Agenda's website and social media pages reportedly covered a wide range of issues with no central topic of focus.

Content directly related to the war on Gaza was taken from other websites, including Jewish outlets and other liberal-leaning outlets like CNN.

However, after January and after amassing thousands of followers, the sites drastically became more political, touting anti-semitism reports on US campuses and allegations of UNRWA colluding with Hamas.

The campaign's avatars targeted US politicians, particularly Democratic lawmakers. This could be because Democrats, in particular, are seeing great disagreement within their party over the war on Gaza.

Related News

Hamas, Resistance factions agree to Trump deal: Sources to Al Mayadeen

Trump hints at visit to Egypt amid ongoing Gaza truce talks

An op-ed published in The Washington Post on Monday details some of the challenges facing the Democratic Party amidst sustained protests concerning the war on Gaza.

These demonstrations, critical of US support for "Israel", have exacerbated tensions within the party, especially among its liberal base and young voters.

According to Fake Reporter's investigation, 85% of all American politicians whose accounts were targeted with similar information were Democrats, with 90% being African Americans.

Ritchie Torres, a Democratic congressman from the Bronx who is seen as one of the party's more pro-Israel" members, was the most targeted American representative. Representatives Joe Neguse, Hank Johnson, Cori Bush, Lucy McBath, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Sen. Rev. were the most targeted after him.

According to researchers, the choice to target Torres' page was most likely motivated by his popularity among pro-"Israel" Democrats, and the campaign sought to exploit the page's comments area to enhance exposure to their content among Black users.

In recent weeks, the campaign has shifted its focus again, tweeting more about global terror funding and what they dub as the "axis of evil," comprising Iran, China, and Russia.

'Israel' leading propaganda campaign to subdue Palestinian creators

Supporters of "Israel" are attempting to utilize online tools that allow them to suppress the reach of pro-Palestine content and flood them with pro-"Israel" propaganda using Artificial intelligence, The Washington Post reported back in January. 

Experts are calling this a "citizen-led propaganda campaign," since the usage of the tools does not appear to breach platform rules against "coordinated inauthentic behavior," which refers to posts that appear to be from unconnected persons but are the result of an orchestrated effort, frequently via automated accounts.

Researchers also believe it's impossible to tell which comments were created by these tools since there's no way to publicly trace a user's private behavior across various applications.

Social media businesses would have to devise methods to identify their use, which is difficult because the applications run on their platforms, not those of the social media companies. If the applications posted automatically, they would most certainly breach the rules against inauthentic behavior. However, third-party applications that simply urge genuine users to report postings are not subject to these penalties.

'Israel' desperate to buy content creators

Emerson T. Brooking, a former cyber policy advisor to the Defense Department who studies disinformation and propaganda campaigns as a resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, expressed that the level of organization for pro-"Israel" propaganda is one-sided, noting that “it exists because there are government ministries in "Israel" that support these tools and encourage their use.”

One app is directly tied to the occupation. Moovers pushes users to “Advocate for Israel, One Click at a Time.”

It allows users to mass react to pro-Palestine content pulled in from social media apps such as reporting it for review or commenting on it. It also gives pre-written pro-"Israel" responses to similar posts.

In early December, an Israeli influencer marketing business began contacting creators in the US offering to pay for the promotion of Moovers on their Instagram accounts.

  • United States
  • war on Gaza
  • Palestine
  • Democratic Party
  • Israel
  • Israeli occupation
  • Gaza
War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

Tucker Carlson speaks at a memorial for Charlie Kirk, Sunday, September 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (AP)

Tucker Carlson: Israeli officers gave orders on Iran inside Pentagon

  • Politics
  • 2 Oct 2025
A Hamas fighter in combat fatigues stands before the ceremony for the handover of Israeli captives to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, February 22, 2025 (AP)

Hamas responds to Trump plan, backs Gaza withdrawal, exchange

  • Politics
  • 3 Oct 2025
Mossad’s secret role in Aldo Moro’s 1978 murder revealed

Mossad’s secret role in Aldo Moro’s 1978 murder exposed

  • Politics
  • 5 Oct 2025
The Palestinian resistance and the people of Gaza showed that after combating Israeli aggression for two years, they remain victorious in the face of oppression (Mahdi Rteil/Al Mayadeen English)

Al-Aqsa Flood two years on, a tale of victory

  • Politics
  • 6 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
An Israeli armored vehicle moves on a street of a local market during a military raid in the West Bank refugee camp of Balata, Wednesday, October 8, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli settlers kill Palestinian youth near Ramallah amid raids

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during the Moscow format consultations on Afghanistan in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Iran interested in resuming nuclear talks: Lavrov

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks during a news conference at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, April 25, 2025 (AP)
Politics

IMF head flags US budget, Europe Defense spending challenges

Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, at UN headquarters (AP)
Politics

Meloni faces ICC complaint over Gaza genocide complicity with Israelis

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS