France probes whether Israeli firm BlackCore interfered in local elections

PARIS: French authorities are examining whether a foreign interference campaign aimed at a hard-left party ahead of March’s municipal elections was carried out at least in part by an obscure Israeli firm called BlackCore, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

French intelligence agencies are now investigating who may have ​commissioned the alleged BlackCore campaign to smear three France Unbowed candidates in a campaign that included deceptive websites and social media accounts alleging criminal behaviour, as well as disparaging digital ads, two of the sources said.

Reuters could ‌not independently establish who was behind BlackCore, verify where it was based, or find any reference to the company in Israeli corporate records.

BlackCore did not respond to repeated messages sent via a contact form on its website, and its LinkedIn page – both of which were subsequently taken offline.

French prosecutors either did not return messages or declined comment about BlackCore’s alleged activities. Viginum, a disinformation detection service within the French prime minister’s office, also declined to comment.

BlackCore has described itself on its website and LinkedIn page as “an elite influence, cyber, and technology company built for the modern era of information warfare.” It said it provided governments and ​political campaigns with “cutting-edge strategies, advanced tools, and robust security to shape narratives.”

Reuters reviewed BlackCore documents in which the company claimed credit for a separate social media operation carried out on behalf of an African government. The documents were undated but ​referred to an operation that began in January this year and extended for 14 weeks. An individual provided the documents to Reuters on condition that certain details about them were withheld.

After Reuters asked ⁠Facebook owner Meta Platforms about the African operation outlined in the documents, the company said the “network” behind it was tied to the disinformation campaign launched ahead of the French municipal elections. Meta stopped short of identifying a culprit.

Meta told Reuters it had removed a ​network of accounts and pages for violating its rules against “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” It said the rogue activity originated in Israel and “primarily targeted France.”

Two of the sources who had knowledge of BlackCore’s alleged French disinformation campaign said they were also aware of the company’s work in Africa, ​without elaborating.

Google and TikTok independently identified aspects of the French disinformation operation while policing their respective networks, according to two other sources. Neither provided further detail.

Alphabet-owned Google did not return messages seeking comment.

TikTok did not directly address questions about BlackCore but said it had removed an account identified by Reuters as having promoted one of the bogus sites used in the alleged French smear campaign. The account broke its rules on deceptive behaviour, TikTok said.

LFI DIVIDES OPINION

The operation targeted Marseille mayoral candidate Sébastien Delogu, Toulouse contender François Piquemal and their Roubaix counterpart David Guiraud, according to French authorities and the candidates themselves.

Its broad ​outlines were first exposed, by newspaper Le Monde in March, when Viginum revealed a “foreign digital interference” scheme with “limited” reach targeting a “French political party” and its candidates in Marseille, Toulouse and Roubaix.

Satirical and investigative news outlet Le Canard Enchaine later reported, authorities suspected an Israeli firm, but did ​not name it.

BlackCore’s alleged disinformation campaign underlines how fraught even local elections have become as France and other nations struggle with increased political polarization and threats to democracy.

Polls show France Unbowed – known by its French acronym LFI – divides opinion.

The pro-Palestinian party is regularly accused of antisemitism by some Jewish community ‌leaders and political ⁠rivals – claims it denies – while many business figures fret about its high tax-and-spend policies.

Still, LFI retains a solid 10-15% base of support that analysts say could be enough for it to reach the second round of France’s next presidential election, due to be held in April 2027.

With polls suggesting the far-right National Rally party is almost certain to make the second round, French centrists fear a potential far-right versus hard-left run-off.

LFI said Viginum alerted it to foreign interference aimed at its candidates, and said it was cooperating with investigators.

“We expect the upcoming (presidential) election to be the scene of attacks of this kind,” the party said in a statement.

“Technological developments will probably multiply this risk considerably.”

After this story was published, LFI’s 2027 presidential candidate, longtime party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, called on the government to pass tougher legislation against foreign interference.

“We need ​to be protected, and if we are, all the other (parties) will ​be too,” he said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry told Reuters it ⁠was not aware of BlackCore. It did not address the question of whether the French government had been in touch over the election interference allegations. France’s foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

CANDIDATES SMEARED

Delogu, who withdrew from the second round of the Marseille election to avoid splitting the left-wing vote, filed a defamation lawsuit in March after a now-extinct site named “Sophie’s Blog” targeted him, alluding to ​unspecified sexual misconduct.

QR codes – barcodes that can be scanned with a smartphone to send users to a website – were also posted around Marseille, pointing to the blog. Reuters was unable to ​identify or contact the blog’s author.

Yones ⁠Taguelmint, Delogu’s lawyer, declined to share the complaint, but confirmed that it related to the blog and the QR codes. The Marseille prosecutor’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Guiraud, who won his election in Roubaix, was targeted by “Facebook pages linked to the same ecosystem,” Viginum said. Guiraud did not respond to requests for comment.

Piquemal, a lawmaker who led a leftist alliance in Toulouse but lost in a narrow run-off vote, said he went to police after he was targeted by anonymous social media accounts, websites and disparaging ads in local newspaper La Depeche du ⁠Midi.

Piquemal said he hoped ​the criminal probe would reveal who was behind the attacks. He said he believed he was targeted for his pro-Gaza advocacy and because he was “capable of ​winning the third-largest city in France”.

La Depeche, in a March 21 editorial, said it would take legal action against those behind the ads. It did not respond to requests for comment.

Toulouse Prosecutor David Charmatz did not respond to questions about BlackCore, but said Piquemal’s criminal complaints were too recent to have generated any leads.

After losing ​the election, Piquemal sought to have the result annulled due to the alleged foreign interference. The Toulouse Administrative Court has yet to deliver a verdict.