Meta and OpenAI 'disrupt' Israeli firm's covert operation to influence ...
STOIC used AI models to create accounts posing as Jewish students and African Americans to influence online audiences in the US and Canada. Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Meta and OpenAI claim to have disrupted covert online influence operations run by an Israeli company amid the intensifying war in Gaza.
Impact of STOIC's Actions
The tech giants stated that STOIC, a political marketing and business intelligence firm based in Tel Aviv, is utilizing their products and tools to manipulate political conversations online. OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, reported on Thursday that it banned a network of accounts associated with STOIC. They were accused of posting anti-Hamas and pro-Israel content, acting as a "for-hire Israeli threat actor".
Usage of AI Models
The accounts leveraged OpenAI models to spread disinformation about the war in Gaza and also touched on the ongoing Indian election. OpenAI's blog post highlighted that the AI models were used to generate articles and comments posted across various platforms including Instagram, Facebook, and other websites affiliated with this operation.
Fake Engagement
OpenAI revealed that some campaigns aimed to create false online engagement by generating replies to their own posts. However, these activities seemed to attract minimal engagement, primarily from their own inauthentic accounts.
Meta's Response
Meta confirmed in a quarterly security report that it removed more than 500 Facebook accounts, a group, 11 pages, and over 30 Instagram accounts linked to the same influence operation. Accounts posing as Jewish students, African Americans, and other individuals targeted audiences in the US and Canada as part of this covert campaign.
Meta's head of threat investigations, Mike Dvilyanski, mentioned, "There are several examples across these networks of how they use likely generative AI tooling to create content. Perhaps it gives them the ability to do that quicker or with more volume. But it hasn't really impacted our ability to detect them."
Ban and Actions Taken
Meta has banned STOIC and issued a letter demanding an immediate cessation of activities that violate Meta's policies. Despite this, STOIC did not provide a comment to The Independent.
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