Podcast Ep 7: Behind Israel’s troll army
The Electronic Intifada Podcast 5 July 2019
On episode 7, Nora Barrows-Friedman and Asa Winstanley host a discussion about Act.IL, an online influence campaign funded by the Israeli government.
They are joined by Michael Bueckert, who’s been behind some of the most vital research on the group, publishing much of it to his @AntiBDSApp Twitter account.
Bueckert tells us how he first got interested in looking into this organization, and we discuss to what extent Israel is actively involved in directing its operations.
As Asa recently reported, Act.IL says its goal is to “influence foreign publics” and “battle” BDS – the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement for Palestinian rights.
Through its app, Act.IL issues “missions” to this troll army in exchange for “cool prizes” and scholarships.
A leaked report claims Act.IL’s app completes 1,580 such “missions” every week.
“A lot of the power of the app comes from concealing or sort of obscuring the real authors behind a lot of this content to try to make it appear as though it is organic, spontaneous online activity … when it is actually choreographed and directed by this app,” Bueckert tells The Electronic Intifada Podcast.
Articles we discussed
- How Israeli spies are flooding Facebook and Twitter (Asa Winstanley)
- Inside Israel’s million-dollar troll army (Asa Winstanley)
- Palestinians resist US plan for more efficient Israeli occupation (Tamara Nassar)
- Buying Palestine for peanuts (Ali Abunimah)
- Jared Kushner trolls Palestinians (Ali Abunimah)
- Gulf rulers embrace Israel at Kushner’s Bahrain workshop (Tamara Nassar)
- Why Israel wants Iran destroyed (Greg Shupak)
Music: “The Death of Neoliberalism” by Lowkey
Image: Still from a video on Act.IL’s YouTube channel
Production assistance by Sharif Zakout
Subscribe to The Electronic Intifada Podcast on Apple Podcasts (search for The Electronic Intifada). Support our podcast by rating us, sharing and leaving a review, and you can also donate to fund our work.
Podcast Ep 7: Behind Israel’s troll army
The Electronic Intifada Podcast 5 July 2019
On episode 7, Nora Barrows-Friedman and Asa Winstanley host a discussion about Act.IL, an online influence campaign funded by the Israeli government.
They are joined by Michael Bueckert, who’s been behind some of the most vital research on the group, publishing much of it to his @AntiBDSApp Twitter account.
Bueckert tells us how he first got interested in looking into this organization, and we discuss to what extent Israel is actively involved in directing its operations.
As Asa recently reported, Act.IL says its goal is to “influence foreign publics” and “battle” BDS – the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement for Palestinian rights.
Through its app, Act.IL issues “missions” to this troll army in exchange for “cool prizes” and scholarships.
A leaked report claims Act.IL’s app completes 1,580 such “missions” every week.
“A lot of the power of the app comes from concealing or sort of obscuring the real authors behind a lot of this content to try to make it appear as though it is organic, spontaneous online activity … when it is actually choreographed and directed by this app,” Bueckert tells The Electronic Intifada Podcast.
Articles we discussed
- How Israeli spies are flooding Facebook and Twitter (Asa Winstanley)
- Inside Israel’s million-dollar troll army (Asa Winstanley)
- Palestinians resist US plan for more efficient Israeli occupation (Tamara Nassar)
- Buying Palestine for peanuts (Ali Abunimah)
- Jared Kushner trolls Palestinians (Ali Abunimah)
- Gulf rulers embrace Israel at Kushner’s Bahrain workshop (Tamara Nassar)
- Why Israel wants Iran destroyed (Greg Shupak)
Music: “The Death of Neoliberalism” by Lowkey
Image: Still from a video on Act.IL’s YouTube channel
Production assistance by Sharif Zakout
Subscribe to The Electronic Intifada Podcast on Apple Podcasts (search for The Electronic Intifada). Support our podcast by rating us, sharing and leaving a review, and you can also donate to fund our work.
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