Facebook Deleted Thousands of Accounts Ahead of Israeli Municipal Elections
The social network collaborated with an Israeli government cyber defense organization on the issue, drawing criticism about the tie-up
Municipal elections will be held throughout Israel on October 30.
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With any election, the issue of fake news and fake social media users should be a concern, Tidhar said, adding that the Directorate has been collaborating with Facebook to identify accounts that attempted to manipulate information regarding the elections.
Jordana Cutler. Photo: Amit Sha'al
The National Cyber Directorate was created in early 2018 from the combination of two separate offices that dealt with cyber threats. It operates under the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, which also oversees the operations of two of Israel’s most well-renowned intelligence agencies—the Mossad, and Israel’s and the Israel Security Agency. Earlier this year, a bill proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to give the Directorate extraordinary powers to search and seize private computers and to amass data collected from government agencies, utilities, and other organizations. The bill has been widely criticized by privacy advocates, civil liberties groups, and cybersecurity specialists. Nahon has been one of those to speak out publicly against the bill.
Jordana Cutler, Facebook’s head of policy in Israel, said at the hearing that Facebook has been collaborating on the issue of fake account with several local entities and that the election committee coordinates the collaboration with the Cyber Directorate. “There is no secret arrangement,” she said. “We receive requests from the government but are not committed to them,” she said. “we operate based solely on our community standards.” Before Joining Facebook, Cutler was employed by the Prime Minister’s Office as an advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to her Linkedin Page.
