Report Links $8M Anti-Muslim Influence Campaign to ’Israeli’ Based Entities

By Staff, Agencies

Researchers Marc Owen Jones and Sohan Dsouza have linked a large-scale online advertising campaign promoting the far-right "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory to "Israeli"-based entities, according to a report published last week and first reported by The National. 

The investigation estimates that the operation ran between October 2023 and October 2026, targeting audiences in more than 30 countries and generating approximately 800 million advertising views at a cost of up to £6.12 million.

The campaign reportedly operated across Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok, using intermediary companies in Vietnam and later Brazil to bypass platform moderation. Its content sought to fuel anti-Muslim, anti-migrant, anti-Qatar, and anti-Iran sentiment. 

Researchers identified AI-generated videos, manipulated images, music, video game parodies, and recycled footage of migration and demonstrations. 

Slogans included "THIS IS AN INVASION" and "QATAR IS ISLAMISING EUROPE," alongside calls to "SAVE EUROPE | STOP QATAR."

The operation portrayed Qatar as allegedly orchestrating the Islamisation of Western societies through migration. One campaign, titled "Grand Theft Qatar," borrowed imagery from the popular video game Grand Theft Auto to depict Emiratis purchasing European properties and converting them into mosques. 

Other advertisements used misleading footage and AI-generated scenes to promote anti-Muslim narratives. An examination of 406 comments on UK-targeted Facebook advertisements in 2024 found that 61% supported Islamophobic positions.

Researcher Sohan Dsouza stressed that the available evidence does not establish that "Israel" itself directed the operation, but identified the entities behind it as "Israeli"-based and linked them to influence operations run by the "Israeli" occupaion entity. 

The investigation documented 1,473 Facebook advertisements, 189 YouTube videos, 359 TikTok advertisements, and 105 TikTok account videos over 37 months. 

Despite previous removals by Meta, the campaign reportedly resurfaced repeatedly, including through newly established Brazilian advertising entities and replacement YouTube channels.

Dsouza called for stricter identity verification for online advertisers and faster action against coordinated influence campaigns. Meta said it had removed more than 200 networks worldwide and continued working to identify and disrupt coordinated inauthentic behaviour. 

The researchers, however, highlighted how the repeated reappearance of the campaign demonstrated the difficulties platforms face in preventing such operations from returning.