Operation "Zero Zeno": Israel-linked influence activity

This case study was originally published in OpenAI’s May 2024⁠(opens in a new window) report.

Actor

We banned a cluster of accounts operated from Israel that were being used to generate and edit content for an influence operation that spanned X, Facebook, Instagram, websites, and YouTube. The network was operated by STOIC, a political campaign management firm in Israel. In honor of the founder of the stoic school of philosophy, and to reflect the low levels of engagement that the network attracted, we have nicknamed it “Zero Zeno”.

Behavior

This operation targeted audiences in Canada, the United States and Israel with content in English and Hebrew. In early May, it began targeting audiences in India with English-language content. It also appears to have been preparing to run an IO campaign targeting audiences in Ghana.

The operation used our models to generate web articles and social media comments that were then posted across multiple platforms, notably Instagram, Facebook, and X.

The operation also used our models to create fictional personas and bios for social media based on certain variables such as age, gender and location, and to conduct research into people in Israel who commented publicly on the Histadrut trade union in Israel. Our models refused to supply personal information in response to these prompts.

Content generated by this network was posted across multiple social media platforms. Open-source research by the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab⁠(opens in a new window) identified some of its content on Facebook, Instagram and X; when those accounts were disabled, the operation acquired new ones. Other content appeared on four websites that posed as activist groups focused on the Gaza conflict and broader issues of relations between individuals of Jewish and Muslim faith: uc4canada.com, the-good-samaritan.com, ufnews.io and nonagenda.com.

Content

Impact assessment

Indicators

• nonagenda.com

• the-good-samaritan.com

• uc4canada.com

• ufnews.io