Roy Andrew

A major investigation has uncovered an Israel-linked, three-year disinformation operation designed to spread Islamophobia, anti-migrant hatred and far-right conspiracy theories across more than 30 countries. The operation spent £6.12 million generating 800 million advertising exposures across social media platforms. The UK was among the worst-affected countries, with 154.1 million exposures, followed by France (120.6 million), the US (99.7 million), Italy (76.2 million) and Germany (34.3 million). These campaigns include claiming that there's an Islamic invasion and Muslim countries are buying European buildings and converting them into mosques. In the UK, 61% of comments sampled on targeted Facebook adverts expressed support for Islamophobic views. Think about that. Millions spent deliberately exploiting prejudice, spreading conspiracy theories and turning Muslims into scapegoats and to dehumanise them. The Nazi regime also ran a massive, state-sponsored propaganda and disinformation campaign.