Investigation Reveals Bot Network Amplifying New York Mayor Adams' Messages From City Infrastructure

An exclusive investigation by The Jerusalem Post reporter Mathilda Heller has uncovered a sophisticated network of suspected bot accounts on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that systematically amplify messages from New York City Mayor Eric Adams and his allies. Cybersecurity experts who independently analyzed the data confirmed with 100% certainty that the IP addresses of these accounts are directly linked to New York City’s municipal computing infrastructure.

The findings were presented to the World Zionist Organization’s (WZO) Department for Combating Antisemitism and reveal a highly unusual pattern of activity across dozens of accounts. These accounts exhibit extreme behavior such as hundreds of tweets and retweets daily, profiles with no personal information or created just days before analysis, and usernames with automated characteristics. For example, one account averaged 955 tweets per day, all retweets, while another posted 864 retweets daily. One newly created account posted 201 tweets per day despite having no followers.

The coordinated amplification mechanism works by immediately and rapidly sharing posts from Mayor Adams’ official or city accounts, with some accounts retweeting his content 98% to 100% of the time. This artificial boost increases algorithmic exposure, leading to genuine user engagement and creating a self-sustaining cycle that inflates views and reach by hundreds of percent. A notable case is a video Adams posted on July 27, which accused Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu of causing thousands of deaths and garnered millions of views largely due to this bot-driven amplification.

The investigation raises serious questions about the responsibility of the city’s communications team, which manages official accounts and messaging. Cyber experts stress the need to determine whether city officials were aware of or authorized this amplification and if there are operational links between the bot operators and official entities. In response, the WZO announced it will formally request the U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism, Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, to forward the findings to U.S. federal law enforcement for further investigation.

Yifat Ovadia-Losky, head of the WZO’s antisemitism department, emphasized that antisemitism on social media fuels real-world incitement and undermines Jewish community security. Meanwhile, Mark Goldfeder, CEO of the National Jewish Advocacy Center (NJAC), stated his organization has contacted New York’s investigation and ethics bodies demanding access to city server logs, highlighting legal prohibitions against using public resources for political purposes. Neither the U.S. State Department nor New York City officials have responded to requests for comment as of this report.