Thread by @jsrailton on Thread Reader App
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A source is testimony, not proof. Citing one is a provenance fact — it records who said what, where — and never a verification that the claim is true.
Who is named
The characters and things this document talks about — 5 in alls. Each links to everything else the record knows about them.
Organisations 4
Places 1
Claims made
Every claim in this document. Firsthand = asserted on its own basis; secondhand = recounted from elsewhere, carrying no independent weight.
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A little-known firm named BlackCore was accused by French authorities in June of meddling in elections in Scotland, France, New York, Angola and Togo after a probe uncovered the use of fake social media accounts.
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The agency launched an investigation after evidence suggested BlackCore may have tried to smear three candidates from the leftwing France Unbowed party during municipal elections in March, Reuters reported.
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The dual track operations included distraction campaigns during critical moments.
🔴"Distraction campaigns during critical moments"
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The dual track operations included coordinated reporting of policy violations.
🔴"Coordinated reporting of policy violations"
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The dual track operations included comment section dominance on news coverage.
🔴"Comment section dominance on news coverage"
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BlackCore sought to deliver dominance using AI bots.
They sought to deliver on that dominance using AI bots.
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We also traced BlackCore to a 14-week course for Angola's government where officials would be graded on AI use (again, hosted on a public subdomain!)
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We found their ads & metrics: fake news outlets, AI personas, and deceptive posts that hit 20k likes...
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And they got caught.
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France asked Israel for help when French municipal elections were targeted.
France asked Israel for help when French municipal elections were targeted.
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BlackCore is like a hired hitman for influence ops.
BlackCore is like a hired hitman for influence ops.
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Going up the chain is tough even if an operation can be technically attributed to the intermediary.
Even if you can technically attribute an operation to the intermediary, going up the chain is tough.
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That makes them attractive to certain customers.
That's no doubt what makes them so attractive to certain customers.
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Unless they meet consequences they can't shake off, like sanctions, criminal prosecution, lawsuits... They will continue.
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AI has turbocharged perception manipulation.
AI has turbocharged perception manipulation.
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We are still in the earliest days.
We're still in the earliest days.
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The vibecoding is obvious and slop tells are common.
The vibecoding is obvious & slop tells are common.
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BlackCore used an open Google Sheet to track the operation.
We caught an "elite" Israeli propaganda company using an open Google Sheet to track an operation.
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These campaigns will only get better and we cannot count on them to avoid basic OPSEC mistakes.
But these campaigns are only going to get better & we also can't count on them to make such basic OPSEC mistakes.
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BlackCore demo promised dual track operations to covertly suppress dissent.
A BlackCore demo promised "dual track" operations to covertly suppress dissent:
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