Astroturf and sockpuppets · 2023-2024 · Israel, US

The STOIC campaign aimed at US lawmakers

In June 2024 the New York Times reported that Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs had allocated about $2 million to a campaign run by the Tel Aviv firm STOIC, made up of fake accounts of fake accounts posing as ordinary Americans and aimed at US lawmakers, particularly Black Democrats. The Times cited four current and former ministry members. The ministry denied any involvement. Meta had removed a network of 510 Facebook accounts and others in May and attributed it to STOIC, and OpenAI disrupted the firm's use of its tools. Both said the reach was limited.

Amichai Chikli seated on a stage at CPAC.
Amichai Chikli, Israel's minister of Diaspora Affairs, at CPAC in 2025. In 2024 the New York Times reported that his ministry funded STOIC; the ministry denied any involvement. Credit: Gage Skidmore, via Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Run by
Diaspora Ministry
Named by the New York Times; the ministry denied it
Reported budget
~$2 million
Meta removed 510 Facebook accounts, 11 Pages, 1 Group and 32 Instagram accounts
Per Meta and OpenAI
Limited reach
Both said the campaign did not gain much authentic engagement
Time to exposure
~8 months
From the reported October 2023 commission to the New York Times report of 5 June 2024

Timeline

  1. Oct 2023 · It worked

    According to the New York Times, the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs commissions at least part of a campaign from STOIC, a Tel Aviv political marketing firm, with about $2 million allocated.

  2. Oct 2023 - 2024 · It worked

    Fake accounts posing as concerned US and Canadian citizens, including Jewish students and African Americans, post pro-Israel content, criticise UNRWA, and reply to lawmakers including Hakeem Jeffries, Raphael Warnock and Ritchie Torres.

  3. Mar 2024 · Exposed

    The Israeli watchdog FakeReporter publishes the first report on the fake network.

  4. 29 May 2024 · Exposed

    Meta's adversarial threat report removes 510 Facebook accounts, 11 Pages, one Group and 32 Instagram accounts and attributes the network to STOIC. It does not name a client.

  5. 30 May 2024 · Exposed

    OpenAI reports that it disrupted STOIC's use of its models to generate content for the same kind of campaign.

  6. 5 Jun 2024 · Exposed

    The New York Times reports, citing four current and former ministry members, that the Diaspora Ministry commissioned and funded the campaign. The ministry denies any involvement, and the Times and the companies note the campaign had little reach.

Meta and OpenAI named only STOIC; the link to a government ministry rests on the Times' sources, which the ministry denies.

The playbook

  1. 1

    Hidden messenger

    The accounts presented as ordinary Americans, students and neighbours, not as the product of a foreign ministry's contract.

  2. 2

    Front group

    A private firm and new-looking websites and platforms stood between the ministry and the posts.

  3. 3

    Sockpuppet amplification

    Hundreds of fake accounts posted and replied to each other and to members of Congress to simulate public support.

Through the FATE framework

  • Focus4/10

    Pushed pro-Israel and anti-UNRWA themes to the lawmakers' own comment threads.

  • Authority3/10

    Little borrowed authority; mainly impersonation of ordinary citizens.

  • Tribe6/10

    Accounts posed as members of the groups the lawmakers represent.

  • Emotion4/10

    Hostage and antisemitism themes, but not the main mechanism.

Propaganda techniques used

Same playbook today

The same playbook can be run by anyone, on any side. We list every current PSYOP that matches The STOIC campaign aimed at US lawmakers, whoever is behind it.

No live PSYOP we track matches this playbook right now. When one does, it will appear here.