Tel-Aviv-Based Political Marketing Firm Reportedly Created Fake Social Media Accounts Aimed At Majority Black And Democrat US Lawmakers Concerning Gaza War

The Israeli government reportedly commissioned a campaign in 2023 that included social media accounts targeting Black U.S. lawmakers.

The New York Times reported that, in October 2023, Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs paid $2 million to Stoic, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based political marketing firm, to push pro-Israel content on social media at a time when many Americans were concerned for Palestinian civilians during the war in Gaza.

The outlet details that Stoic created fake accounts in support of Israel across X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram that focused on over a dozen majority Black and Democrat U.S. lawmakers, including Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York and U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia.

ChatGPT was mainly used to create the fake accounts’ posts, which asked for the politicians to fund Israel’s military, per the outlet. In addition to fake social media accounts, Stoic reportedly created fake websites and articles.

In May 2024, NBC News reported that both OpenAI, which called Stoic a “for-hire Israeli threat actor,” and Meta removed and banned the accounts.

Meta’s quarterly adversarial threat report said the accounts “posed as locals in the countries they targeted, including as Jewish students, African Americans and ‘concerned’ citizens.” The fake accounts gained about 40,000 followers — mainly bots — on the three social media platforms, according to The New York Times.

“We found and removed this network early in its audience building efforts, before they were able to gain engagement among authentic communities,” Meta wrote in its report, per NBC News.

The New York Times reported that Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs claimed that it didn’t organize the $2 million social media campaign. What’s more, it claimed to have no ties to Stoic. 

While Stoic didn’t respond to the outlet for a comment regarding the campaign, the firm highlighted artificial intelligence (AI) being used in politics.

“As we look ahead, it’s clear that A.I.’s role in political campaigns is set for a transformative leap, reshaping the way campaigns are strategized, executed and evaluated,” Stoic wrote in a now-deleted LinkedIn post, per The New York Times.