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social media manipulation

An image from 'The Campaign,' an investigative documentary examining the anti-Israel Hamas social media campaign (Courtesy)
August 28, 2026, 5:16 am
A new documentary finds orchestrating hands behind global online hate after October 7
‘The Campaign,’ based on Warren Kinsella’s ‘The Hidden Hand,’ weaves in-depth interviews with investigative reporting to reveal a social media movement that spread anti-Israel messaging, fueling antisemitism
By Jessica Steinberg
Illustrative: A police car in Herzliya, August 15, 2025. (Tal Gal/Flash90)
January 16, 2026, 1:10 pm
Woman in northern Israel indicted for aiding Hamas disinformation network
Shin Bet and police say 51-year-old Rania Dandan from Kiryat Motzkin helped terrorist group spread ‘false information’ through fictitious social media profiles
By Stav Levaton
An illustrative image representing social media interactions. (Torsten Asmus; iStock by Getty Images)
January 4, 2026, 12:12 pm
Netanyahu, allies using armies of bots to influence social media discourse – report
Accounts run from foreign countries said to like and share posts by PM, other politicians within seconds, even though videos they’re sharing take minutes to actually watch
By ToI Staff
Illustrative: People look at electronic devices while relaxing in Tel Aviv on June 4, 2025. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
October 18, 2025, 8:22 am
AI tools supercharge foreign influence campaigns targeting Israelis on social media
Mimicking popular Facebook groups, a shadowy network used AI-generated content to target voters — revealing the country’s growing vulnerability to digital manipulation
By Stav Levaton
Elmo poses for a portrait in the Fender Music Lodge during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Jan. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Victoria Will, File)
July 14, 2025, 10:32 am
Hacked Elmo account on X says ‘kill all Jews,’ calls Trump Netanyahu’s ‘puppet’
Hack of beloved Sesame Street character’s X account comes days after site’s AI chatbot Grok posted antisemitic statements
By ToI Staff
Guy Rolnik interviewing a social media executive speaking on condition of anonymity for a scene in the "Rolnik Report." (Kan)
February 12, 2024, 1:56 am
Delete your account: How social media may be metastasizing terror in service of Hamas
Influential economic columnist Guy Rolnik says hatred of Israel and Jews is being spread online to an unfathomable degree, creating an algorithmically sustained shadow October 7
By Amir Ben-David
From left to right, high school seniors Yuval Meller, Inbar Carmi and Maayan Shalom, at Tichon Hamoshava high school in Zichron Yaakov, on January 16, 2024. (Gavriel Fiske/Times of Israel)
January 24, 2024, 8:36 am
‘Ready to do whatever it takes’: 12th-graders find a protective bubble popped by war
Four teenagers set to graduate from a Zichron Yaakov high school join a roundtable discussion with ToI to discuss Gaza, the IDF, antisemitism and what comes next for them
By Gavriel Fiske
Composite photo: A protester (left) demanding the release of hostages held by Hamas, holding a photo depicting Noa Argamani, one of the captives held since the October 7 massacre, and the Facebook logo (right). (Left to right: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images/Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images/photo illustration by 70 Faces Media)
December 7, 2023, 8:08 pm
Meta to rule on deleted Israel-Hamas war posts, in potential social media shakeup
New fast-tracked process to make first-ever decisions on posts showing hostage Noa Argamani and aftermath of strike on Shifa Hospital, likely impacting how war discussed online
By Andrew Lapin
A burned home in Kibbutz Be'eri after the deadly assault by Hamas, seen on October 11, 2023. (Lazar Berman/Times of Israel)
October 18, 2023, 10:09 am
Hamas launched unique terror tactic: Livestreaming horrors on victims’ social media
‘We are not psychologically prepared for this,’ says expert, as New York Times highlights multiple cases in which distraught relatives saw gruesome updates via loved ones’ accounts
By ToI Staff
Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus celebrate on October 7, 2023, after Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip and launched a brutal large-scale attack on Israeli towns and cities. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
October 12, 2023, 2:23 pm
X takes down hundreds of accounts with Hamas ties, flags content
Platform’s CEO describes efforts to handle illegal and fake content on site since Hamas’s onslaught Saturday, generate fact checking on posts
By Agencies
Illustrative: A soldier from the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate works at a computer. (Israel Defense Forces)
March 22, 2023, 12:31 pm
IDF admits psychological warfare attempt targeting Israeli citizens
Opening fake social media accounts and leveraging existing ones, IDF Spokesperson’s Unit sought to foster public positivity toward 2021 Gaza operation; IDF acknowledges ‘error’
By Ash Obel
A screenshot from a BFMTV newscast in August 2022 featuring anchor Rachid M'Barki. (Screenshot via YouTube; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
February 23, 2023, 10:22 pm
French news channel fires anchor linked to Israeli disinformation network scandal
Rachid M’Barki, a familiar face on BFMTV, let go after external influence probe finds firm had planted reports and journalist failed to follow due editorial process
By AFP and ToI Staff
Illustrative: Soldiers loyal to Burkina Faso's latest coup leader Capt. Ibrahim Traore gather outside the National Assembly as Traore was appointed Burkina Faso's transitional president in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Friday, October 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Kilaye Bationo)
February 16, 2023, 6:27 pm
Israeli firm sought to discredit Red Cross in Burkina Faso at request of local gov’t
Company allegedly arranged article tying humanitarian group to terrorism for political ends, adding to growing evidence that private outfits are manipulating public opinion online
By AFP
Tal Hanan, the leader of a team allegedly meddling in election and commercial campaigns around the world, at his office in Modiin, December 2022. (Screenshot: YouTube; Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
February 15, 2023, 2:38 pm
Exposé unmasks Israel-led disinformation team that meddled in dozens of elections
Tal Hanan, aka ‘Jorge,’ revealed to have ability to hack accounts of top officials, plus software for quickly creating networks of 30,000 social media bots; he denies wrongdoing
By Michael Bachner
Oumie Nyassi shows a video circulating online and that has been debunked of a woman claiming she was magnetized after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, in a doctor's office at Serrekunda, Gambia hospital on Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
October 26, 2021, 4:47 pm
Ignoring its own staff, Facebook failed to act against anti-vax misinformation
Critics suggest social media giant was slow to move because it worried internal proposals to deal with misleading info might impact profits
By David Klepper and AMANDA SEITZ
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