Let's
assume for a moment that all the claims about Russian interference in
shaping western public opinion are true. As we are being whipped up
again into a frenzy of hysteria by politicians and the media about
Russian "interference", this time over Britain's Brexit vote, pause to
remember: these new forms of cyber-diplomacy are being used aggressively
by *all* modern states.
The Israeli media have been reporting
for more than a decade about Israel's role in setting up cyber teams,
recruiting zealous overseas Jews and Israeli citizens who natively speak
key languages like English, French, German, Spanish and Russian. Their
role has been to promote Israel on social media and damage critics by
any means possible, including accusing them of being anti-semites. They
are definitely there to "interfere" by influencing western opinion in
Israel's favour. In fact, this is the least of it – as the Priti Patel
scandal revealed last week.
Someone once said that, when reading
the news, the first question you should ask yourself is: "Why do they
want me to know *this*?" Why do the Guardian and co want you to be
concerned about Russian interference but not Israeli interference in our
democratic processes? Why are the media concerned *only* about Russian
interference? Why is Russian interference a problem, but not US and
British interference – much of it far more dramatic than cyber-teams
going on social media - in other countries, especially Russia?
And please don't tell me this is whataboutery. Having one rule for
others and another for ourselves is the definition of hypocrisy.
Thousands of fake accounts may have been used to influence the Brexit vote.
Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA
