PARIS (Reuters) — French authorities are examining whether a foreign interference campaign aimed at a hard-left party ahead of March’s municipal elections was carried out at least in part by an obscure Israeli firm called BlackCore, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

French intelligence agencies are now investigating who may have commissioned the alleged BlackCore campaign to smear three France Unbowed candidates in a campaign that included deceptive websites and social media accounts alleging criminal behavior, as well as disparaging digital ads, two of the sources said.

Reuters could not independently establish who was behind BlackCore, verify where it was based, or find any reference to the company in Israeli corporate records.

BlackCore did not respond to repeated messages sent via a contact form on its website and its LinkedIn page — both of which were subsequently taken offline.

French prosecutors either did not return messages or declined to comment on BlackCore’s alleged activities. Viginum, a disinformation detection service within the French prime minister’s office, also declined to comment.

BlackCore has described itself on its website and LinkedIn page as “an elite influence, cyber, and technology company built for the modern era of information warfare.” It said it provided governments and political campaigns with “cutting-edge strategies, advanced tools and robust security to shape narratives.”

Reuters reviewed BlackCore documents in which the company claimed credit for a separate social media operation carried out on behalf of an African government. The documents were undated but referred to an operation that began in January this year and extended for 14 weeks. An individual provided the documents to Reuters on condition that certain details about them were withheld.

After Reuters asked Facebook owner Meta Platforms about the African operation outlined in the documents, the company said the “network” behind it was tied to the disinformation campaign launched ahead of the French municipal elections. Meta stopped short of identifying a culprit.

Meta told Reuters it had removed a network of accounts and pages for violating its rules against “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” It said the rogue activity originated in Israel and “primarily targeted France.”

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