France accuses Israeli BlackCore of interfering in New York and Scottish elections
Viginum said that the French disinformation detection service suspected Israeli firm BlackCore of interfering with France's local election in March. They also suspect them of meddling in elections New York City, Scotland, Angola, and Togo. Viginum, France's disinformation detection service, said that BlackCore, an Israeli firm, was suspected by French authorities of being behind a smear online campaign against three candidates for the LFI, a hard-left pro-Palestine party, in the local election.
Marc-Antoine Brillant, Viginum's chief executive officer, said that technical work led to the discovery of BlackCore at a press event on Thursday with French Prime Minister Sebastien lecornu. Viginum then presented a detailed report about BlackCore’s alleged activities around the globe.
He said that this modus operandi wasn't limited to the municipal elections in France. It also seems to have been used to carry out foreign digital interfering operations in other countries and regions, including Angola, Togo or the Scottish elections, as well as the 2025 municipal election of New York.
Nevertheless,?Brillant stated that it is still unclear who has commissioned BlackCore in order to meddle with France.
He said that "our investigations made it impossible to identify the sponsor, or sponsors, should they indeed exist, behind this digital foreign?interference".
Lecornu stated that the French government asked Israel to explain BlackCore's activities, as well as for assistance in attempting to "find out" who might have been behind this smear.
He said: "It is obvious that we requested their assistance and explanations." "I don't doubt in the slightest that if an Israeli ambassador had been targeted by a French group on French soil, then they would have done so."
The embassy of Israel in Paris has not responded to a comment request immediately.
Brillant didn't mention explicitly who was the target of last year's New York City elections, won by?Zohran Mahdani. His win thrilled younger Jewish progressives, but scared more traditional pro Israel New Yorkers because of his outspoken support of the Palestinian cause.
Mamdani’s team didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. New York City officials and state officials in New York also did not respond to a request for comment.
CISA, the U.S. Cyber Defense Agency and New York Police Department did not respond to emails seeking comment. The FBI declined to comment.
Viginum reported in a later report that it had detected BlackCore accounts that targeted John Swinney as the first minister of Scotland. Swinney described the situation as a "manmade humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza, saying that a genocide could be unfolding. He cited civilian deaths, widespread destruction, and statements from Israeli officials.
Swinney and his party, the Scottish National Party did not respond to requests for comment. Emails sent to Scottish election officials seeking comments were not returned immediately.
Angola, Togo and other governments did not respond immediately to comments.
BlackCore, before deleting its online presence in response to inquiries, described itself as "an elite cyber and technology company, built for the modern age of information warfare." BlackCore said that it offered governments and political campaigns "advanced tools and robust security in order to shape narratives"
The company has refused to comment on repeated requests. Gabriel Stargardter, reporting from Paris; Dominique Vidalon, writing by Gabriel Stargardter and Raphael Satter. Additional reporting by Raphael Satter and John Irish in Washington and Sam Tabahriti and London. Susan Fenton, Matthew Lewis and Susan Fenton edited the article.
(source: Reuters)
