Academic researchers Marc Owen Jones and Sohan Dsouza uncovered the covert network operating across Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok between 2024 and 2026. The campaign intensified around the 2024 general election and the Southport riots, utilizing AI-generated videos and mini-documentaries that falsely framed the Southport attacker as Muslim. Forensic analysis connected the effort to Israel via fixed-line IP addresses, local daylight saving time shifts, and Hebrew-language metadata embedded in 78 video project files. Although the campaign mirrored public rhetoric used by prominent Israeli politicians, researchers found no direct evidence implicating the Israeli state.
Key points
The network represents the largest recorded covert influence operation aimed at the Unite…: The network represents the largest recorded covert influence operation aimed at the United Kingdom by both audience reach and advertising spend.
Disinformation materials strategically exploited the Southport killings and local electio…: Disinformation materials strategically exploited the Southport killings and local election cycles using deceptive artificial intelligence tools.
Investigators traced the technical infrastructure directly to Israel without finding clea…: Investigators traced the technical infrastructure directly to Israel without finding clear evidence tying the activity to the Israeli government.
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A new investigation has traced a major anti-Muslim propaganda campaign targeting Britain back to Israel.
The campaign, uncovered by academics Marc Owen Jones and Sohan Dsouza, was at its height before the UK's 2024 general election and the anti-Muslim riots that raged across the country later that year.
It involved large numbers of paid advertisements warning of an Islamic takeover of Britain masterminded by Qatar.
"Between 2024 and 2026, our investigation recorded more than 154m exposures to its British-targeted material," Jones and Dsouza wrote in an article published by The Nerve.
"Its first wave of British advertising ran in the months before the 2024 general election. The ads were also hammering the UK in the winter and spring leading up to the anti-Muslim riots that followed the Southport murders."
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