Israeli watchdog tracks bots and manipulation ahead of election

Israeli nonprofit FakeReporter is stepping up investigations into online manipulation ahead of the 27 October election. Co-founder Achiya Schatz says conspiracy theories blaming domestic opponents for security failures surrounding the Hamas attacks, alongside false claims targeting Arab citizens, are shaping the information environment. The watchdog recently uncovered an AI-powered bot network campaigning for National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir against rivals within Netanyahu’s camp, as well as a Likud SMS campaign targeting opposition politician Avigdor Lieberman.

The organisation’s election strategy combines public education before voting, an election-day situation room to investigate suspicious content, and efforts to counter disinformation after polls close. Its broader work includes exposing Iranian-linked networks posing as Israelis, tracing coordinated harassment and supporting people targeted by doxxing or false claims. Schatz argues that identifying propagation patterns and the actors behind campaigns matters more than isolated fact-checks.

AI is making targeted influence operations easier to scale by generating messages for specific audiences, Schatz warns. Meanwhile, political discussion is increasingly moving into Telegram and WhatsApp channels, where urgent updates can circulate without traditional verification standards. FakeReporter also teaches digital literacy in schools and communities, treating public resilience and support for victims of online attacks as essential to protecting democratic debate.