France accuses Israeli firm BlackCore of interfering in Scottish elections

France's cybersecurity agency has accused the Israeli tech company BlackCore of interfering in Scotland's elections earlier this year by targeting First Minister John Swinney. The agency, Viginum, said the company used proxy social media accounts to target Swinney, the Scottish National Party and the Scottish government on four occasions. It said the alleged campaign took place between 6 January and 8 May, spanning the period before and during a hard-fought election for the Scottish parliament.

Sponsored

Viginum said its investigation identified BlackCore as the actor behind the operation, but that it remained unclear who had commissioned the company. Marc-Antoine Brillant, who heads digital interference work at Viginum, said the investigation had not established the sponsor or sponsors, if any, behind the activity. He said the same modus operandi was not limited to France and appeared to have been used in other countries or regions, including Scotland, Angola, Togo and the 2025 municipal election in New York.

The report said the campaign against Swinney, the SNP and the devolved government in Edinburgh involved the coordinated posting and mobilisation of at least 256 accounts on the social media platform X. Those accounts were used to distribute about 1,400 comments, according to the agency. Viginum said Swinney's account was targeted 652 times, the SNP's 338 times and the Scottish government's 112 times.

The allegation adds to concerns about foreign digital interference in democratic processes, particularly where online networks can amplify political messaging at scale. The Scottish case is part of a broader investigation that Viginum says also links BlackCore to municipal elections in France and to activity in New York, Togo and Angola. That wider pattern matters because it suggests a repeatable method rather than a single isolated incident.

Sponsored

It also raises questions about how private firms, proxy accounts and cross-border digital operations may be used to influence public debate during election periods. The timing is significant because the alleged activity overlapped with the Scottish parliamentary election campaign, when parties and candidates were competing for attention online as well as offline. Swinney and other ministers have been vocal in their criticism of the Israeli government's actions in Gaza and the West Bank, and have also taken steps affecting firms linked to arms exports to Israel.

The report does not say whether those positions were connected to the alleged targeting, and Viginum said it could not identify any sponsor behind the operation. What remains unclear is who, if anyone, commissioned BlackCore and whether the alleged campaign had any measurable effect on the election itself. It is also not known whether any legal or regulatory action will follow the French findings.

For now, the case adds to a growing body of allegations about foreign interference in elections through coordinated online activity, with Scotland now named alongside several other jurisdictions in the same investigation.

#Scotland #electioninterference #BlackCore #Viginum #JohnSwinney #ScottishNationalParty #cyberoperations #foreigninterference