Published on 12/6/2026
The head of the French agency Vigenome – concerned with exposing misleading information – said yesterday, Thursday, that the Israeli company Blackcore is suspected of involvement in interfering in the elections in New York City, which Zahran Mamdani won, and in Scotland, and in carrying out activities in Angola and Togo, after suspicions of its involvement in the French local elections that took place last March.
In a press conference held today in the presence of French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, Marc-Antoine Brilland, president of Vigenome, stated that technical investigations led them to Blackcore’s involvement. Vigenome later provided a detailed report on alleged “Blackcore” activities around the world.
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“This method of operation was not limited to the municipal elections in France,” Brelan said. “It appears that it has also been used to carry out foreign digital interference operations in other countries or regions, such as Angola, Togo, the elections in Scotland, and in the 2025 municipal elections in New York.”
However, Brelan noted that it was still unclear who commissioned Black Coeur to intervene in France. Previous attempts to verify the company’s official headquarters or find its records inside Israel were also unsuccessful, while the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied knowledge of the company’s existence.
For his part, Lecornu explained that the French government asked Israel for clarifications regarding the actions of Blackcore, in addition to helping to uncover the identity of those behind the smear campaign.
He added in his statements, “It is obvious that we asked them for help and clarifications. I do not doubt for a moment that if a private French group – starting from French territory – had engaged in foreign digital interference in Israel, it would have done the same thing with its ambassador there.”
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Brelan did not explicitly say who was targeted in last year’s New York City election won by Zahran Mamdani. His victory pleased many young progressive Jews, but alarmed more traditional pro-Israel New Yorkers because of his outspoken support for the Palestinian cause.
Mamdani’s team did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did New York City and New York State officials. The NYPD and the US Cybersecurity Agency also did not respond to emails seeking comment. The FBI also declined to comment.
In a subsequent report, Vigenome stated that it had monitored accounts linked to Blackcore targeting Scottish Prime Minister John Swinney. Sweeney described the situation in Gaza as a “man-made humanitarian catastrophe,” saying genocide may be underway there, citing civilian casualties and widespread destruction and statements by Israeli officials.
There were no comments from Swinney, his party (the Scottish National Party) and Scottish election officials. The governments of Angola and Togo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Before deleting its online platforms, the company described itself – on its website and LinkedIn page – as “an elitist specializing in influence, cybersecurity, and information warfare.”
Last month, Reuters reported that the French authorities suspected that the company “Blackcore” was responsible for an online smear campaign that targeted 3 candidates from the “France Proud” party, which belongs to the far left politically, before the municipal elections that took place in March of this year.
The campaign at the time included the creation of misleading websites and false accounts on social media platforms, which promoted allegations of criminal behavior by at least three candidates for the position of mayor in the cities of Marseille, Toulouse, and Roubaix.
