Words of Iron
Pro-Israel social-media tool launched in October 2023 that generated pre-written replies and mass reports; its founder described it as part of a joint initiative with Israeli government bodies
| Words of Iron
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Online tool (website and Chrome extension) |
| Founded | October 2023 |
| Founder(s) | Shaked Lokits (software engineer); developed with the Israel Tech Guard volunteer group and the start-up Akooda |
| Website | wordsofiron.com |
Words of Iron (WOI) was a website that helped social-media users promote pro-Israel posts and mass-report posts it labelled "false" or "anti-Israel". It was launched in the first days of the Gaza war in October 2023.[1][2] Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs lists it as the first entry in its Iron Web directory, as "A platform enabling the reporting of antisemitic content and the boosting of pro-Israeli posts with a single click".[3]
Links to the Israeli state
Ctech reported in October 2023 that the founder, Shaked Lokits, worked with contacts "within government". It said: "Words of Iron is one of several projects in a joint initiative between the National Information Directorate, the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, other government offices and tech companies called 'IsraelTechGuards'".[1] Lokits told the paper that "We need to build systems that will enable our governmental bodies to move forward after these initial weeks have passed".[1]
The Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) found that the tool was created by Israel Tech Guard. An archived version of that group's website said it was "working in close cooperation with the IDF and security services".[2][4] The ministry's own Iron Web directory still promoted the tool in October 2026.[3]
How it worked
The archived site invited users to "Boost Israel's Voice on Social Media with a Single Click". Users were offered "a pre-set text written by our team" to post under selected pro-Israel content, or asked to report content.[5] Ctech said the Akooda start-up team, led by its chief technology officer Itamar Niddam, built the system. Niddam said it took in posts "from various sources (including Israeli official entities)" and "even produces pro-Israel content for them using AI".[6]
DFRLab found that between 10 October 2023 and 10 March 2024 the hashtag #wordsofiron appeared "over 40,000 times in posts by more than 5,000 unique users". It identified "at least two hundred accounts created after the October 7 attacks, some created minutes apart from each other, that amplified WOI messaging". It noted that Israel's Deputy Consul in Miami posted text consistent with WOI messaging. In January 2024 the tool added an "Auto Pilot" Chrome extension.[2]
The Washington Post reported that the tool encouraged users to mass-report a post saying Jesus was Palestinian. The creator of that post said her reach had afterwards been restricted.[7] MintPress News wrote that Israel Tech Guard "collaborated with the Israeli National Information Directorate and the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism to launch Words of Iron".[8] (Critical.)
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ariela Karmel, Words of Iron: Combating propaganda and documenting the brutality of Hamas' crimes Ctech, 12 October 2023. Journalistic.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Online tool helps social media accounts amplify pro-Israel messages Digital Forensic Research Lab, Atlantic Council, 11 June 2024. Research.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Iron Web govextra.gov.il, accessed 20 October 2026. Official (primary).
- ↑ Israel Tech Guard, Home page (archived 25 October 2023) Wayback Machine. Partisan.
- ↑ Words of Iron, Home page (archived 14 November 2023) Wayback Machine. Partisan.
- ↑ Omer Hacohen, The Akooda team's innovative Words Of Iron advocacy project has become an online "Iron Dome" for Israel Ctech, 16 November 2023. Journalistic.
- ↑ Taylor Lorenz, Growing number of apps help automate pro-Israel activism online The Washington Post, 25 January 2024. Journalistic.
- ↑ Jessica Buxbaum, Free Speech Under Fire: How Israel's Tech Guard Is Killing Free Speech Online MintPress News, 2024. Critical.