French watchdog says Israeli BlackCore meddled in elections

A French government watchdog has identified an Israeli company as the source of a coordinated foreign digital interference campaign that targeted elections in multiple countries, including Scotland and New York City. The Office for Vigilance and Protection Against Foreign Digital Interference (VIGINUM) announced on Thursday that its investigation traced the operations to a firm known as BlackCore.

The French authorities first flagged the campaign in March, suspecting it of orchestrating an online smear effort against three pro-Palestinian mayoral candidates from the left-wing France Unbowed party during France's local elections. The operation used deceptive websites, inauthentic social media accounts, and negative digital ads to spread false criminal allegations, including sexual assault, against candidates in Marseille, Toulouse, and Roubaix.

VIGINUM chief Marc-Antoine Brillant stated that the company's structured methods were not limited to France. He said the same tactics appear to have been used for foreign digital interference in other regions, specifically naming Angola, Togo, the elections in Scotland, and the 2025 municipal election in New York City. Technical...