TikTok Deploys Election War Room Amid Israeli Election Concerns

TikTok has established a special "war room" comprising 63 staff members operating globally to monitor the upcoming Israeli elections. Lior Vintroub, TikTok's VP of Policy, revealed this at a conference hosted by the Association for Public Law in Israel and the Rubinstein Center for Constitutional Challenges at Reichman University. These professionals, drawn from various company departments, are each responsible for a different aspect of the election process. The operation, based on protocols refined from approximately 220 global elections, will intensify as election day approaches.

Between June and early September, TikTok removed around 45,000 pieces of content deemed harmful to election integrity and blocked 1,400 accounts impersonating politicians. The platform also thwarted two influence operations: a small one originating from Iran and a larger domestic operation involving over 300 accounts with tens of thousands of followers. Paid political advertising, including influencer promotions, is prohibited and removed upon identification. TikTok employs over 30,000 content moderators worldwide, including Hebrew and Arabic speakers, and collaborates with external fact-checkers like Reuters. Vintroub stated that 99.7% of rule-violating content removed during the period was proactively identified, comparing their efforts to a "ten-meter technological and human wall" that adversaries attempt to breach.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Hanan Melzer, former Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, warned that digital platforms failing to comply with Israeli law could be blocked. He recalled summoning Facebook executives during his tenure to discuss applying election propaganda laws to social media, which Facebook eventually agreed to. Melzer suggested a similar approach for the betting platform Polymarket, stating its operations in Israel could be blocked if it doesn't adhere to regulations. He also cautioned against non-compliant polls and deepfake election propaganda, asserting that "bots and robots have no human rights."

Professor Moran Ophir from Haifa University's Faculty of Law presented research highlighting potential manipulations in Polymarket's election betting, which can influence public opinion and voting. She noted that a small $152 bet could elevate Gadi Eisenkot's chances above Benjamin Netanyahu's, while a $100,000 investment briefly boosted Netanyahu's odds before fading. Two digital wallets briefly raised Ofer Vinter's prospects over Avigdor Lieberman with just $3,200, generating media headlines. Ophir identified extensive links between election market traders and those betting on Middle East war events, some suspected of insider trading. "The Israeli election market is not wisdom of the crowd. A few operate it, a few move it," she warned.

Professor Adam Shinar from Reichman University criticized Israeli media, labeling Channel 14 as "propaganda" rather than journalism. He argued that beyond government efforts to weaken independent media, major outlets adopt a nationalistic framing for ratings, economic interests, and self-censorship. Shinar cited data showing that in September, 52% of political interviews on major TV channels featured representatives from Netanyahu's camp, compared to 42% for the opposition. Only one interview with an Arab representative was conducted that month, despite Arabs comprising about a fifth of Israel's population. He attributed this to rating systems focused on Jewish households, encouraging the exclusion of Arab voices from the screen, and stated, "The journalist's job is to bring things that are uncomfortable for anyone to hear."