Team Jorge, Cambridge Analytica scandal and dangerous games with democracy

There has been a lot of talk lately about whether the results of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Greece will be challenged. The topic has become so socially significant that Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the current Prime Minister, devoted most of his interview to the state channel ERT to this topic.

Speaking of monitoring politicians, he said that Alexis Tsipras’ goal is to arouse suspicion about the validity of the election results:

“I understand that Tsipras will cope with his defeat, but there are limits to how much he can discredit the country abroad. Today it is at least ridiculous to discuss that there is a structural problem of democracy in our country. Those who talk about this with Mr. Tsipras as the first, there is a purpose. And that is to create suspicions about the credibility of the election results. They already have that in mind. They want to tell us that the electorate will vote for Syriza and that New Democracy will eventually Ultimately, it comes out on top.”

Asked if there would be suspicion in the election results, he replied:

“If you look at where the logical conclusion of their arguments leads, then I have no doubt that in the end they will say so. And this is unthinkable, because if there is any gain in our country, it is the impartiality of the electoral process. I understand that Mr Tsipras is coping with his defeat, but there are limits to how much he can discredit the country abroad, and there is a clear conflict with the reality that all citizens feel.”

Here we have a double problem for democracy. Either Kyriakos Mitsotakis blames his political opponent for something that didn’t happen, or he predicts it. And this is dangerous, because it calls into question the role of the parties and the opposition. Or, if SYRIZA loses the elections, it will challenge the result, which is even more dangerous for the republic.

I want to believe that neither one nor the other, and everything will go smoothly. Because I agree with the Prime Minister on one thing: the electoral process must be clean, unbiased, consistent with the democratic institutions and traditions of the country.

Revealing publication

On the other hand, however, there is a Guardian publication that reveals shocking facts. A group of Israelis are accused of manipulating electoral processes in 30 countries. The so-called “Jorge” group – this is not the mythical hand of Moscow, in relation to which the United States was so pissed off after Trump’s victory, but a very real structure that offers election interference services.

One of the Jorge Group’s key services is the sophisticated Advanced Impact Media Solutions, or Aims, software suite, according to a report from The Guardian. It controls a huge army of thousands of fake social media profiles on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Telegram, Gmail, Instagram and YouTube. Some avatars even have Amazon credit card accounts, bitcoin wallets, and Airbnb accounts. The head of this group was secretly filmed by journalists – alleged clients, and revealed several details of his activities. He even said that he has a team in… Greece.

What does all this remind me of

But the 2016 US election and the Cambridge Analytica scandal. For those who don’t remember, this company was able to get hold of at least 50 million accounts through a hole in Facebook, so it knew the movements, data, and preferences of user-voters.

Guardian Design/Haaretz/The Marker/Radio France

Thus, by sending mass messages or making so-called dark posts, that is, sponsored messages, she could influence public opinion and every person, depending on his profile. When a company has data on any person, draws up his psychological profile, knows his interests, fears, political beliefs or various issues that he deals with, it knows what messages to send.

Cambridge Analytica was accused of manipulating the electorate in favor of Trump and it is possible that she could interfere in the Brexit referendum.

So, as the scandal rages internationally, should Greece also be the subject of an investigation if the allegations against the group’s Israeli affiliate are true? Shouldn’t we all know if there is at least one case of interference in the electoral process in favor of any party? We are not blaming ND, SYRIZA or PASOK here. We must know the truth and nothing else.

Government spokesman Mr. Ikonomou called the reports bullshit and said they know what they are voting for, who they are voting for and why they are voting for them: “We don’t know of any similar group in Greece. The Greeks know, who they vote for and who they vote against. The opposition probably wants to justify the coming defeat.”

So the Americans are stupid, perhaps the British are too, and in Greece we are “so cool” that we know what we are voting for? Does that mean we can’t be manipulated? Who is speaking? Iconomu as an expert?

And we ask: if SYRIZA comes out on top, will the ND contest the result? And if so, will it rely on the allegations that have become public? That’s why everything should be transparent. So that no one dares to question the will of the Greek people on Election Day. We are not playing with democracy, let everyone understand this.

Reference: International Consortium of Journalists OCCRP, featuring publications The Guardian, Der Spiegel, haaretz and several other media outlets, published an investigation into an Israeli online influencer group calling itself the “Team Jorge” that interferes in elections, conducts disinformation campaigns using bots, and hacks the telegram and Gmail accounts of high-ranking officials.

In the summer of 2022, three investigative journalists from The Maker, Radio France and Haaretz approached Team Jorge, posing as representatives of a potential client in the African Republic of Chad. Their “goal” they called the postponement of elections in the country for an indefinite period, “to protect their economic interests.”

“Team Jorge” told reporters that two-thirds of the presidential campaigns it has intervened in have taken place in Africa, but the promotional presentations refer to countries in Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. Team leader Tal Khanan, who identified himself as Jorge, said his team had run 33 “presidential-level” campaigns, of which 22 were “successful.” Their job is to hack into electronic devices, collect and forge blackmail material, spread disinformation, disrupt elections, and launch social media campaigns.

Hanan estimated his work on the presidential campaign at $15 million. For two months of work in an African country on an order described by journalists, the team leader asked for $6 million. He offered several options for transferring money – through a French NGO, a law firm in Dubai, or Islamic schools. “We like to be behind the scenes, this is part of our strength – the other side does not understand that we exist,” Hanan said.

PS It is a very strange situation when the current ruling party is convicted for the second time of using completely undemocratic methods of government, but these accusations are not at all terrible for it. How can this be explained? Exceptionally powerful support of the electorate and business or the weakness of the opposition? After all, proven spying on journalists and the opposition once cost US President Nixon (Watergate) power. Allegations of electoral fraud in 2016 nearly led to the impeachment of Donald Trump.

But already in 2020, numerous falsifications in the US presidential elections were “not noticed” by law enforcement agencies. And no prosecutors (such as Muller) were looking for Moscow’s hand. Apparently, it is not in vain that they say that democracy is the “rule of the democrats”. This means that no violations and falsifications are terrible for democrats as long as they go “correct course”.

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