Gamified astroturf
Act.IL (2017–2022): app launched under the Ministry of Strategic Affairs' 4IL campaign; directed users to 'missions' — mass-liking, commenting with provided talking points, and coordinated reporting of critical content — with points, badges, and leaderboards. Documented by the Forward, +972, and academic researchers.
How it works
Manufactured consensus: a coordinated minority simulates organic majority opinion, buries critical posts through mass reporting, and floods replies so genuine voices read as fringe.
How to recognize it
Sudden swarms of similar replies on a viral post; near-identical phrasing across unrelated accounts; critical posts vanishing after report waves; reply accounts with no history on the topic.
How to answer it
Volume is not opinion — say so with the receipts (the app's missions are documented on Wikipedia with its point system). Report coordinated behavior through platform tools. And the mirror rule: this is exactly why Sanad forbids copy-paste — the moment our side does it, we become the screenshot.