EXPOSED: How BDS activists use online ‘hack’ manual to access bus stop ad spaces
TfL confirms it has "identified a new lock design which will significantly reduce unauthorised access. "
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Anti-Israel activists are using detailed instruction manuals openly circulating over the internet to gain access to sealed bus shelter advertising boards – to put up inflammatory posters labelling the Jewish state “racist” and calling for it to be boycotted over allegations of “apartheid”.
A Jewish News investigation can reveal how anti-Israel extremists have been using the “How to hack into bus stop advertising spaces” guide to put up a whole spate of guerrilla adverts demonising the Jewish state at bus stops across London.
Only last week, posters were put up in Chalk Farm, north London using an image of a dictionary definition of the word “apartheid” that then compared the actions of the Israeli government with”oppression and domination by one group over another as imposed in South Africa.”
Because the posters appear on display behind a protective cover at bus stops there is widespread concern amongst the Jewish community that they give the impression that they are officially approved by both Transport for London and the Advertising Standards Authority.
Other posters to appear inside the sealed advertising boards since 2018, including one which used the title of anti-Israel author Sally Rooney’s best-selling book to suggest “Normal People Boycott Israel.
An earlier image, again placed in a sealed advertising box, had labelled Israel a “racist endeavour” – a clear attempt to contravene the guidelines of the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
Lawyer Daniel Confino, who first alerted Jewish News to the ad board hacks, said: “My main concern is that by allowing such unfettered access for activists to place printed posters inside the panels members of the public will believe these are properly authorised ads meeting the policy requirements of Transport for London and the Advertising Standards Association.
“In other words that it is acceptable and justified to promote anti-Israel, and in my view antisemitic material.”
The widely circulated online instructions on how to display posters give political activists a detailed account of how to unlock the plastic panels used by the outdoor advertising firm JC Decaux at bus stops across the capital.
In 2015 JC Decaux was awarded what is believed to have been the world’s largest bus shelter advertising concession by Transport for London (TfL) in a deal worth around £600m across a period of eight years.
Asked to comment on why the bus stop ad spaces were being easily opened and anti-Israel posters being put inside a spokesperson for JC Decaux told Jewish News:”We do not wish to make any comment and would like to refer you to TfL – as the advertising boards are the property of TfL and the responsibility of TfL to provide the security of access.”
Earlier Jewish News had spoken to JC Decaux’s Incident Management Room.
A male employee, who identified himself as Aidan, confirmed JC Decaux were “aware of the problem” around anti-Israel posters being put inside their bus stop spaces.
He added:”It’s a tricky situation, they look as though they are legitimate. We do contact the police when this happens.”
Jewish News was first alerted to online “Decaux hack” instructions by lawyer Daniel Confino, who has now complained to the firm about their failure to protect their advertising spaces from being broken into.
Confino also said he had raised the issue with TFL, and this week gave a statement to police after raising the issue in an email to the Met Police’s Chief Inspector Francesca May-Robinson.
This week he was asked to give a statement to police officers at his home in Greenwich, south London on his information regarding the accessing of the advertising spaces.
Confino – who is behind the popular podcast Homespun Wisdom: Talks with my Neighbour -told Jewish News:”On four or five occasions I have seen the advertising panels on bus stops taken over with anti-Israel and antisemitic posters inserted INSIDE the panels.
“I think as a company JS Decaux have some strict responsibility to properly secure these panels to avoid this type of hijack.”
Since the posters first began appearing the Metropolitan Police, along with Transport for London have been inundated with complaints about the anti-Israel posters, with many claiming the sustained campaign is antisemitic in nature.
But so far, neither the police, or TfL, have been able to either catch those responsible for the campaign, or stop it from continuing.
A TfL spokesperson said: “Fly posting, including the use of unauthorised advertising, is an act of vandalism which we take extremely seriously. As soon as we are made aware of these incidents, we instruct our contractors to attend and remove any of this material found on our network.”
“Following a trial to strengthen the security of our bus shelter advertising panels, which concluded in December 2021, we now have identified a new lock design which will significantly reduce unauthorised access. This has already been installed in a number of high priority locations across London, and we are currently identifying further locations to implement this improvement.”
Confino told Jewish News he believed the ease with which rogue posters can be inserted INSIDE the Decaux advertising panels is the main problem.
He said:” The objective is not to attract attention from the passing public but to publicise official- looking photos and post them around social media etc for greater impact.
” The entire project is designed to convince that the posters are the genuine thing.”
Confino also noted that TFL has a strong policy on advertising and offensive material, but he claimed it is “trounced wholesale by the open invitation provided by the insecure Decaux panels to racist and unlawful antisemitic material. ”
“Personally I feel affronted by the faux authenticity of the posters and the antisemitic messages,” he added. ” It’s always Israel that gets a mention out of all the possible targets. ”
Jewish News also discovered there were numerous companies on the market who were able to produce the sort of posters used by the anti-Israel activists.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan added: “These unauthorised adverts are acts of vandalism and it is unacceptable for fly posting of this sort to appear anywhere on the TfL network. TfL take such incidents extremely seriously and act quickly to remove any materials found on the network.”
A London Jewish Forum spokesperson said: “We have been contacted on numerous occasions over the last few years by members of the community reporting anti-Israel fly-posting across the TfL network. These incidents cause significant concern, and give the impression that TfL have approved malicious anti-Israel advertising. When these incidents occur, we are in touch with the Mayor’s Office and TfL to ensure they are removed straight away. We urge TfL to examine what preventative measures they can take to stop this vandalism from taking place in the first place.”
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