The Israel Internet Association (ISOC-IL) welcomes the publication of a special report by the State Comptroller on Israel’s national preparedness for foreign influence operations. The report draws extensively on ISOC-IL research, policy papers, and public interest initiatives focused on information integrity, digital resilience, and the risks posed by online manipulation.
The State Comptroller’s audit was conducted between July 2024 and January 2026 and examined Israel’s ability to identify and respond to foreign influence in the digital sphere, including its preparations for the heightened risks surrounding the upcoming national elections.
Full State Comptroller Report – PDF (Hebrew)
Machine Translation of Report – PDF (English)
Among the ISOC-IL resources cited in the report are its national surveys on social media use (2024) and exposure to disinformation (2025), policy papers on social media regulation (2022) and stakeholder responses to online misinformation (2025), international reviews of platform preparedness for elections, and the educational initiative Fake or Not, developed in partnership with the Israel Democracy Institute, the MOFET Institute, and Israel’s Ministry of Education.
The report uses ISOC-IL data to illustrate the central role social media now plays in how Israelis consume news in particular and information in general, while pointing in contrast to major gaps in ISrael’s national preparedness, echoing concerns that ISOC-IL has raised in recent years regarding the growing vulnerability of Israel’s information environment to foreign influence operations, coordinating online manipulation, and the spread of false information. According to the Comptroller’s report, as of March 2026 Israel had no overarching national policy and no designated government body responsible for coordinating a comprehensive, interagency response to foreign influence in the digital sphere.
In particular, the report recommends establishing a direct reporting channel between civil society organizations and the relevant security and law-enforcement authorities, reinforcing the importance of organizations such as ISOC-IL, which bring together independent research, public-interest expertise and data, and direct knowledge of online harms and platform practices thanks to the intensive activity of its Internet Safety Hotline over more than a decade.
The absence of a national regulatory framework for social media platforms in Israel means that platforms are not currently required to assess systemic risks, report transparently, or take consistent action against harmful content and coordinated manipulation. The Comptroller report refers to the social media regulatory framework developed by ISOC-IL and the Israel Democracy Institute, alongside international models such as the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which ISOC-IL has studied and advocated for extensively in the Israeli policy-making arena since 2023.
Election periods receive particular attention in the report, which identifies them as especially vulnerable to efforts to influence public debate, shape perceptions, distort decision-making, or cast doubt on the legitimacy of election results. In discussing how social media platforms prepare for elections, the report cites two ISOC-IL research reviews: Social Media Platforms’ Preparedness for National Elections Worldwide: An Updated Review (2022, Hebrew) and Social Media Platforms and Technology Companies’ Preparedness for the 2024 Elections: An Updated Review (2024, Hebrew). These reviews examine the commitments made by major platforms ahead of election periods and how those commitments are implemented in practice. The report also recommends renewed engagement with online platforms to ensure that the tools they use to protect election integrity are applied effectively in Israel (see also ISOC-IL’s January presentation at the Knesset on safeguarding election integrity in the age of AI).
One of the report’s central recommendations is to make information literacy and critical thinking a national priority from an early age. The report recommends that disinformation, foreign influence, and critical thinking in the digital environment be included as required subjects in the education system. It points to ISOC-IL’s interactive Fake or Not educational platform as an existing initiative that could serve as a model for the national implementation of these subjects.
These challenges are not unique to Israel. The report notes that the European Union, the OECD, and the World Economic Forum all view foreign information manipulation, interference, and disinformation as strategic threats to democracy, public trust, and social stability.
Over the past two years, ISOC-IL’s Community Affairs and Research and Public Policy teams have developed a significant pool of research, educational resources, policy recommendations, and practical programs designed to strengthen information literacy, improve disinformation resilience, and address the challenges posed by generative AI. ISOC-IL believes that an effective response requires long-term cooperation among government, the education system, academia, civil society, the private sector, and online platforms. The State Comptroller’s report makes clear that no single institution can address these risks alone. ISOC-IL is proud to contribute its research, policy expertise, educational initiatives, and public-interest perspective to this national effort.
Learn more about ISOC-IL’s digital literacy initiatives: Digital Literacy and Education
Learn more about ISOC-IL’s work to strengthen resilience against disinformation: Disinformation Resilience Israel