Team Jorge’ unit exposed by undercover investigation
Group sells hacking services and access to vast army of fake social media profiles
Evidence unit behind disinformation campaigns across world
Mastermind Tal Hanan claims covert involvement in 33 presidential elections
Tal Hanan
Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Manisha Ganguly, David Pegg, Carole Cadwalladr and Jason Burke
A team of Israeli contractors who claim to have manipulated more than 30 elections around the world using hacking, sabotage and automated disinformation on social media has been exposed in a new investigation.
The unit is run by Tal Hanan, a 50-year-old former Israeli special forces operative who now works privately using the pseudonym “Jorge”, and appears to have been working under the radar in elections in various countries for more than two decades.
Hanan did not respond to detailed questions about Team Jorge’s activities and methods but said: “I deny any wrongdoing.”
The investigation reveals extraordinary details about how disinformation is being weaponised by Team Jorge, which runs a private service offering to covertly meddle in elections without a trace. The group also works for corporate clients.
Hanan told the undercover reporters that his services, which others describe as “black ops”, were available to intelligence agencies, political campaigns and private companies that wanted to secretly manipulate public opinion. He said they had been used across Africa, South and Central America, the US and Europe.
One of Team Jorge’s key services is a sophisticated software package, Advanced Impact Media Solutions, or Aims. It controls a vast army of thousands of fake social media profiles on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Telegram, Gmail, Instagram and YouTube. Some avatars even have Amazon accounts with credit cards, bitcoin wallets and Airbnb accounts.
The consortium of journalists that investigated Team Jorge includes reporters from 30 outlets including Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El País. The project, part of a wider investigation into the disinformation industry, has been coordinated by Forbidden Stories, a French nonprofit whose mission is to pursue the work of assassinated, threatened or jailed reporters
About this investigative series
Thank you for joining us from Norway.
Democracy is vulnerable. Elections around the world are being subverted, poisoned by a combination of money, technology and shadowy actors.
Independent journalism is an antidote. Investigative reporting is meticulous, labour-intensive, and often risky work. But it’s vital. Will you invest in quality investigative journalism today?
In this project, we worked with partners to expose the activities of hackers, saboteurs and automated disinformation operatives who covertly sway elections in return for huge fees.
We believe democracy needs defenders. At the Guardian, our independence allows us to chase the truth wherever it takes us – in this case into a complex web of electoral manipulation.
Unlike many others, the Guardian has no shareholders and no billionaire owner. Just the determination and passion to deliver high-impact global reporting, always free from commercial or political influence.
And we provide all this for free, for everyone to read. We do this because we believe in information equality. Greater numbers of people can keep track of the events shaping our world, understand their impact on people and communities, and become inspired to take meaningful action. Millions can benefit from open access to quality, truthful news, regardless of their ability to pay for it.
Whether you give a little or a lot, your funding will power our reporting for the years to come
Discover more from Nomadicvoice
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.