Colombia's Petro Accuses BlackCore of Election Interference via Disinformation Campaign

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused Israeli cyber-intelligence firm BlackCore of conducting a significant digital disinformation campaign aimed at manipulating the results of the June 21 presidential runoff election. Petro claims that BlackCore deployed 500,000 automated bots to spread false information about him and his party's candidate, Ivan Cepeda. Following the narrow victory of challenger Abelardo de la Espriella, Petro stated that the alleged interference represents a severe blow to national sovereignty and announced he would not recognize the new government. He also alleged that the vote-counting software was compromised, citing unauthorized alterations in IP addresses. Colombia's National Registry and the National Electoral Council have denied these claims, asserting the integrity of the election process, which was validated by international observers. The accusations against BlackCore align with a report from France's Viginum, which accused the firm of disrupting democratic processes globally. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu celebrated De la Espriella's victory, indicating geopolitical implications.

Key Points: • Gustavo Petro accuses BlackCore of deploying 500,000 bots to influence Colombian elections. • The National Registry and Electoral Council confirmed the integrity of the election results. • International observers found no evidence of systemic digital manipulation during the election.