Accounts linked to BlackCore are said to have targeted First Minister John Swinney, who called the findings “deeply concerning” and urged the UK government to take online interference more seriously.
An Israeli company is suspected of running digital interference operations targeting Scotland’s parliamentary elections, according to France’s disinformation watchdog.
The findings were first reported by the Reuters news agency on Thursday.
Viginum, the French agency that monitors foreign digital interference, said the firm BlackCore appears to have carried out operations in several countries beyond France, including Scotland, the 2025 New York City mayoral election, Angola and Togo.
BlackCore was already under suspicion of meddling in France’s local elections in March.
Speaking at a news conference in Paris alongside Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, Viginum chief Marc-Antoine Brillant said the firm’s methods were not limited to French municipal votes and appeared to have been used for interference operations abroad.
According to Viginum’s report, accounts linked to the company targeted Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney.
Mr Swinney has been outspoken on Gaza, describing the situation there as a man-made humanitarian catastrophe and warning a genocide may be unfolding.
Reacting to the report, the first minister said attempts by bad actors to interfere in the Scottish Parliament elections were “deeply concerning”.
He called on the UK government, which is responsible for national security, to make tackling hostile online interference a far higher priority.
The SNP’s head of digital, Ross Colquhoun, told Reuters the party’s social media channels were hit by an unprecedented level of negative comments during the May elections from accounts that appeared to be AI-generated bots.
However, investigators have not established who commissioned BlackCore’s activities, or whether anyone did.
The French government has raised the matter with Israel and asked for help with its inquiry.
Israel’s embassy in Paris said it would use details from the French investigation to carry out its own, and insisted the Israeli government had no intention of interfering in French elections.
Before scrubbing its online presence after questions from Reuters, BlackCore had presented itself as an influence and cyber company offering governments and political campaigns tools to shape narratives.
The firm has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
The Intelligence and Security Committee’s 2020 Russia Report found evidence of Russian attempts to influence the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, and said successive governments had failed to properly protect British democracy.
