In a world where social networks play a major role in shaping public opinion, checking the narrative is essential. Every day, in fact, a war is also fought in the digital arenas, and disinformation is a powerful weapon. As in all wars, also in this one there are mercenaries who provide their services to the highest bidder. For the first time, an investigation led by Forbidden Stories has taken a close look at how the disinformation industry works, and the reality is particularly alarming.
Disinformation and hacking
The investigation that Forbidden Stories, a French NGO that has been active since 2017 in carrying out the work of threatened and murdered journalists around the world coordinated, and that was carried out by a consortium of several newspapers, began in the summer of last year, when a potential client managed to get in touch with an Israeli company, namely Team Jorge. From that moment on, a series of meetings began, first online and then in person, to discuss the methods and costs of a potential service. The client had in fact presented himself as the intermediary of a businessman interested in postponing or even cancelling elections that were to be held in an African country.
What the men of Team Jorge did not know, however, was that behind the screen, and then in their office in Modiin - a small Israeli town less than 40 kilometres from Tel Avivi -, there were no men really interested in interfering with the democratic life of a state, but three undercover journalists, from Radio France, Haaretz and TheMarker. This is how some of the tools and methods used by Team Jorge were revealed, but more importantly, this is how the identity of 'Jorge' himself was revealed. His real name is Tal Hanan, a former member of the special forces of the Israeli army, who decided to start his own security business in the 1990s.
During these meetings of which videos have also been published, Hanan tried to 'sell' his services. The tactics he allegedly showed the journalists were in fact used in '33 presidential campaigns, 27 of which were successful'. The journalists were unable to verify whether this claim was true or whether it was rather a tactic to sell his services. What does emerge quite clearly, however, is that Team Jorge is able to carry out campaigns that are capable of interfering in the public life of countries, thanks to sophisticated tools.
One of them, shown during the meeting, is called Aims, an acronym that stands for Advanced Impact Media Solutions. It is thanks to this software that Hanan is able to bring its virtual army to life: tens of thousands of virtual avatars that, thanks to artificial intelligence, appear as real people. These are fake, automated accounts that move across all the major digital platforms, from Facebook to Twitter, from YouTube to LinkedIn. It is from here that disinformation campaigns take shape and become a reality, by being guided according to the target requested by the client, creating the most suitable narrative for the situation.
However, Team Jorge's activities are not only limited to spreading fake news, but also to hacking. Faced with fake clients, Hanan quietly enters the inboxes of government officials of several African countries, even managing to write from their Telegram accounts. Journalists discovered that this kind of service would also be offered to Cambridge Analytica, the British company accused of influencing the Brexit vote and the 2016 US presidential election that would eventually lead Donald Trump to the White House. It could not be established whether the deal went through, even though evidence of collaboration between the two companies emerged in the case of the Nigerian presidential elections of 2015.
A growing market
While we have long been aware of the use of disinformation by state actors, both as an instrument of foreign policy - as evident in the case of Russia, for example - and at home, that of private companies still remains a more shadowy but no less concerning world. These sorts of companies are capable of carrying out campaigns that can significantly influence public opinion, interfering in democratic processes all over the world.
Indeed, in a world where social media play a significant role in the circulation of news and the shaping of opinions within societies, even if the investigation were to lead to Team Jorge ceasing to operate, it is hard to imagine that this void would not soon be filled by someone else. Research by the Oxford Internet Institute shows that in 2020 private companies were active in at least 48 countries and that at least 60 million dollars have been spent since 2009 to hire them. These are huge figures, which many believe are destined to grow.
It is therefore no longer possible to deny the existence of a large market for this kind of service, and there is a common element among the various companies known so far: many of them were born and developed in the Israeli hi-tech industry. Like Hanan's group, in fact, also the Nso Group, the company producing the spyware Pegasus and Percepto, another company that seems to be engaged in the disinformation business, are Israeli. Very often, these companies are the result of a fusion between the driving industry of the country's development, the Israeli technology world and the military world, as Hanan's past demonstrates.
The victim of this digital war, fought by mercenaries in the service of the highest bidder, is the truth. And it is no coincidence that journalists all over the world suffer attacks for their work. The possibility to be informed, to form their own opinion is an essential requirement for democracy. When the digital public square is invaded by fake news, this right is lost.
Mondo Internazionale APS - Reproduction Reserved ® 2023
Sources used for the article:
https://forbiddenstories.org/story-killers/team-jorge-disinformation/
https://www.ilpost.it/2023/02/15/team-jorge-inchiesta-disinformazione/
https://www.internazionale.it/magazine/louis-imber/2023/02/23/dall-esercito-al-privato
Image source:
https://www.rawpixel.com/image/6029969/photo-image-public-domain-hand-person
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L'Autore
Giorgio Giardino
Giorgio Giardino, classe 1998, ha di recente conseguito la laurea magistrale in Politiche europee ed internazionali presso l'Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore discutendo un tesi dal titolo "La libertà di espressione nel mondo online: stato dell'arte e prospettive". Da sempre interessato a tematiche riguardanti i diritti fondamentali e le relazioni internazionali, ricopre all'interno di MI la carica di caporedattore per la sezione Diritti Umani.
Giorgio Giardino, class 1998, recently obtained a master's degree in European and international policies at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore with a thesis entitled "Freedom of expression in the online world: state of the art and perspectives". Always interested in issues concerning fundamental rights and international relations, he holds the position of Editor-in-Chief of the Human Rights team.
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DirittiUmani Democrazia TeamJorge disinformazione Fake News Hacker