When lies move faster than truth: Israel’s democracy faces a digital threat - opinion

As Israel enters election season, digital deception threatens not only the truth, but the ability of citizens to make a free and informed democratic choice.

We are already seeing old, disproved claims brought back to life. The recent revival of a conspiracy theory targeting Yair Golan is one example. No new evidence emerged, yet the claim moved through social media, commentators, and media outlets until it again reached a wide audience.

In the digital age, a lie does not have to stand up to scrutiny. It only has to be repeated often enough.

Political lies are nothing new. What is new is the technology. A fake photograph, a recording of words never spoken, or a convincing video of an event that never happened can now be created in minutes. Fake accounts can make it look as if thousands of people share the same view.

Why is this a threat to democracy rather than simply another ugly part of politics?

Because democracy depends on citizens making political choices based on information they believe to be true. People can look at the same facts, reach completely different conclusions, and vote accordingly. But when voters are deliberately fed fabricated “facts” about a candidate, an opponent, or an event, their choice may be based on a lie.

When fake accounts create the illusion that thousands of others support a position, even the public mood influencing that choice can be manufactured.

There is also another victim: the individual.

A person can wake up one morning to find a fabricated video, a false accusation, or a forged document spreading to hundreds of thousands of people. His reputation, career, or public standing can be damaged within hours, while the legal system may take years to provide a remedy.

These are two sides of the same problem. We need to protect citizens both as voters, from deliberate manipulation of their democratic choices, and as individuals, from lies and digital attacks against which they currently have little immediate protection.

Israel is particularly vulnerable. We are entering an election period after years of war and internal crisis. Society is deeply divided, trust in institutions has weakened, and the lines between politics, media, and social networks are increasingly blurred.

The threat comes from abroad and from within. Hostile states can use bots, fake identities, and AI-generated content to deepen divisions and weaken trust. They do not need Israelis to believe them. Sometimes it is enough to make Israelis trust one another less.

The internal threat is more complicated. Political actors can use similar methods to shape the reality presented to their supporters. The danger grows when media outlets, influencers, and online networks become closely identified with one political camp while still enjoying the authority of journalism.

A claim may start with a politician or social media account, be repeated by a sympathetic media outlet, and then return to social media as a “media report” supposedly confirming the original claim. There is nothing wrong with a newspaper or television channel having a political point of view.

The problem begins when political loyalty becomes more important than checking facts, and claims known to be false continue to be promoted because they serve a political purpose.

Fighting fabricated facts

Other democracies have started to respond. Sweden created an agency for psychological defense to deal with hostile influence without policing legitimate political debate. The European Union has placed more responsibility on digital platforms and introduced transparency rules covering political advertising and manipulated content.

Israel needs its own answer, without giving the government the power to decide what is true.

An independent professional body should be able to identify bot networks, fake identities, deepfakes, coordinated campaigns, foreign interference, and hidden financing. It should deal with methods, not opinions.

But the most important step, in my view, is a specialized court for information and digital offenses.

The reason is simple: time. A lie can cause enormous damage within hours. A court case can take years. Someone targeted by a fake video, forged document, or clearly false factual claim may eventually win a defamation case, but by then the damage may be irreversible. And during an election campaign, the lie may already have influenced voters before the truth catches up.

We already use specialized courts and tribunals in areas such as labor and traffic law because some issues require particular expertise and faster procedures. The digital world now creates a similar need.

An independent court should be able to hear clear cases within 24 to 72 hours and, where appropriate, order a prominent correction or right of reply, stop further distribution or, in serious cases, order content removed.

But it must never become a court of truth. “The government is destroying the country” or “the courts are politically motivated” are political opinions. Judges should not decide whether they are true. A fake AI video showing someone saying words he never said, a forged document, impersonation, or a false claim of a criminal conviction are different.

The same principle should apply to the media. Government must never decide who a “real” journalist is, but press freedom does not remove responsibility. If a news organization publishes a factual claim shown to be false, its correction should receive similar prominence.

The safeguards must be strict. Political opinion is not disinformation. Criticism is not an offense. Satire is not fake news. An honest mistake is not a crime. A professional authority may investigate and warn, but only an independent judge should have the power to force action.

For Israel, there is also a national security dimension. False information can deepen divisions, weaken trust in state institutions, and help enemy influence campaigns. But national security must never become an excuse to silence legitimate criticism.

Every democracy will have to face this problem. Israel has a particular reason to face it now.

The goal is not to decide for citizens what is true or what they should believe. It is to protect their ability to make democratic choices without being deliberately manipulated by fabricated facts – and to give individuals a real chance to defend themselves when a lie is aimed directly at them.

When lies can spread across a country in hours, democracy – and the people who live in it – cannot afford to wait years for the truth to catch up.

The writer is a retired IDF colonel who served in the Prime Minister’s Office and currently advises on national security issues.