Twisted information, an army of avatars, hacking of high-ranking officials: the second part of #StoryKillers pulls back the curtain on "Team Jorge", a shadowy ”black ops” entity that worked with Cambridge Analytica.
In these videos, "Team Jorge" offered a catalogue of services, including influence operations, bot creation and hacking campaigns.
We identified dozens of clients, suggesting their work with Cambridge Analytica was just the tip of the iceberg.
In February 2023, the French press reported on an internal investigation within the popular TV channel @BFMTV, after journalist @RachidMBarki was accused of spreading fake news.
This scandal, it turns out, has everything to do with “Team Jorge”, #StoryKillers journalists found.
The Israeli company developed a tool called AIMS: an automated platform to create avatars on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon, Bitcoin…
Unknown until now, AIMS managed over 30,000 avatars according to “Jorge”.
We witnessed “Team Jorge” use the tool to launch a hashtag campaign about social media’s favorite flightless bird: Emmanuel the emu (@hiitaylorblake).
The aim: spread a rumor Emmanuel had died through the #RIP_Emmanuel campaign. Jorge told us the campaign reached 7.5M views.
“Team Jorge” didn’t stop at influence. “We're on the inside," the black ops team repeated showing how he infiltrated messaging systems.
In this case, the targets were close advisors to @WilliamsRuto, the Kenyan president. Hacking is also part of the catalogue.
You might be wondering: Who are they?
#StoryKillers reveals the identity of Jorge, whose real name is Tal Hanan, a former Israeli special forces officer who surrounds himself with former Israeli intelligence officers and spin doctors.
Ceci est une « étude de cas », présentée par la société d’influence israélienne Percepto International à ses clients, en fait des journalistes sous couverture du consortium @FbdnStories ⤵️
Elle raconte, dans le détail, comment « limiter l’intervention d’une éminente ONG », pour satisfaire un client, nommé « gov. » comme gouvernement, en anglais.
Malgré les floutages, nous sommes parvenus à remonter le fil de cette campagne. La victime n’est autre que le Comité International de la Croix Rouge au Burkina Faso, en août 2020.
The following is a "case study," presented by Israeli influence firm Percepto International to its prospective clients – in reality undercover journalists for #StoryKillers ⤵️
It explains in detail how to "limit prominent NGO intervention" in order to satisfy a client, which they call "gov.”
Despite the blurred content, we were able to trace this campaign back to the source. The victim is none other than the International Committee of the Red Cross in Burkina Faso in August 2020.
Videos #StoryKillers: Today @FbdnStories & 30 media partners reveal “Jorge’s” secretive disinformation business. Discover how he offered to manipulate elections and influence opinions to undercover journalists of the project, from @haaretzcom@InvestigationRF@TheMarker. #Thread
Before journalists who posed as clients, “Jorge” showed how his tool “AIMS” can create avatars for influence campaigns. Meet Sophie Wilde ⤵️
The AIMS tool doesn’t just offer avatar creation. The latest version can also create and disseminate automated content in any language, either with a “positive,” “negative” or “neutral” tone.
Au départ de l’enquête : 3 journalistes du consortium se faisant passer pour des clients et 6h de discussions enregistrées entre eux et la cellule d’un mystérieux « Jorge ». @TheMarker, @InvestigationRF, @haaretzcom.
Dans ces vidéos, « Jorge » propose des services allant de la création automatique de bots au piratage d’emails en passant par la manipulation d’élections.
L’enquête a permis d’identifier des dizaines de clients dans le monde, sur quasiment tous les continents.
Dans son dernier éditorial, Gauri Lankesh dénonce celles et ceux qui se servent des « fake news » comme d’une arme.
Elle identifie l’origine d’une rumeur virale : Postcard News, un site local connu pour attaquer les journalistes et propager de fausses informations. (3/10)
Lankesh's final editorial was the start of the #StoryKillers project.
A global investigation into disinformation mercenaries that brought together more than 100 journalists from 30 media outlets in more than 20 countries. (2/10)