An Israeli private firm named BlackCore, already under scrutiny for alleged interference in France’s local elections in March this year, is now suspected of conducting digital influence operations targeting elections in New York City and Scotland, and of being active in Angola and Togo as well, France’s official disinformation watchdog said on Thursday, June 11.
The disclosure came from Viginum, France’s inter-ministerial service for detecting foreign digital interference, at a press conference held alongside Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu in Paris.
Viginum chief Marc-Antoine Brillant told reporters that extensive technical investigations had led the agency to BlackCore, and that the firm’s methods extended well beyond France’s borders.
“This modus operandi was not limited to municipal elections in France,” Brillant said, adding that it appeared to have been deployed for digital interference operations in Angola, Togo, Scotland, and the 2025 municipal election in New York.
French authorities believed BlackCore was behind a coordinated online smear campaign against three mayoral candidates belonging to the hard-left, pro-Palestine France Unbowed party (LFI) during the country’s March local elections.
Sponsor still unidentified
Despite the findings, Brillant acknowledged that investigators had been unable to determine who had commissioned BlackCore’s operations in France. “Our investigations did not make it possible to identify the sponsor or sponsors, if indeed they exist, behind this foreign digital interference,” he said.
Lecornu said Paris had formally approached Tel Aviv seeking both explanations and cooperation in tracing those behind the smear campaign. Drawing a pointed analogy, he said that had a French private firm engaged in comparable interference operations on Israeli soil, France would similarly have expected answers.
Israel’s embassy in Paris confirmed it had received a formal approach and said it was awaiting details from the French investigation before conducting its own inquiry. In a statement, the embassy said Israel had no intention of interfering in French political processes at any level.
New York, Scotland in crosshairs
Viginum’s detailed report on BlackCore’s alleged global operations flagged the 2025 New York City mayoral election, which was won by Zohran Mamdani, a candidate who drew considerable support from younger Jewish progressives but was viewed with unease by more traditional, pro-Israel sections of New York’s Jewish community owing to his vocal advocacy for the Palestinian cause. Brillant did not specify which individual or campaign may have been targeted in New York.
In Scotland, Viginum said it had identified BlackCore-linked social media accounts targeting First Minister John Swinney, who has publicly described conditions in Gaza as a man-made humanitarian catastrophe and has indicated that what is unfolding there may constitute genocide.
