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Technology

Technology

Graphic pro-Israel ads make their way into children’s video games

Maria Julia Assis (not pictured), supervises her son, whilst he plays a video game on his mobile phone after he was interrupted by a graphic pro-Israel advert, at their home in London, Britain, October 20, 2023. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Maria Julia Assis (not pictured), supervises her son, whilst he plays a video game on his mobile pho... Maria Julia Assis (not pictured), supervises her son, whilst he plays a video game on his mobile phone after he was interrupted by a graphic pro-Israel advert, at their home in London, Britain, October 20, 2023. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Maria Julia Assis (not pictured), supervises her son, whilst he plays a video game on his mobile phone after he was interrupted by a graphic pro-Israel advert, at their home in London, Britain, October 20, 2023. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Maria Julia Assis (not pictured), supervises her son, whilst he plays a video game on his mobile pho... Maria Julia Assis (not pictured), supervises her son, whilst he plays a video game on his mobile phone after he was interrupted by a graphic pro-Israel advert, at their home in London, Britain, October 20, 2023. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

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Graphic pro-Israel ads make their way into children’s video games. In her north London terraced home, Maria Julia Cassis was eating when her 6-year-old son dashed in, pale. A video of Hamas fighters horrified Israeli families, and hazy, horrific material interrupted his Android phone puzzle game. An Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on a dark screen informed the first grader: “WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT THOSE WHO HARM US PAY A HEAVY PRICE.”

Cassis, 28, a Brazilian barista, claimed the commercial scared her kid, and she removed the game.

“He was shocked,” she stated last week as she spoke by phone. “He literally said, ‘What is this bloody ad doing in my game?'”

They’re not alone in wondering how the commercial got inside her son’s video game, according to Reuters. At least five more European incidents of gamers, including minors, being shown the same pro-Israel film featuring missile launches, a blazing explosion, and masked gunmen, according to the news agency,

Ads were played in SEGA-owned Rovio’s “Angry Birds” game. Rovio said, “Somehow, these ads with disturbing content have, in error, made it through to our game” and were manually banned. A spokesperson, Lotta Backlund, would not say which of its “dozen or so ad partners” provided the ad.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs head of digital, David Saranga, said the video was a government-promoted ad but had “no idea” how it wound up in games.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has spent $1.5 million on online advertisements since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on civilians in southern Israel sparked war in Gaza, he claimed. According to him, regulators told advertisers “to block it for people under 18”.

Saranga defended the commercials’ graphic character. “We want the world to understand what happened here in Israel,” he said. “It’s a massacre.” Reuters called 43 “third-party data partners” mentioned by Rovio on its website to find out who placed the ad in the games.

Twelve partners—including Amazon (AMZN.O), Index Exchange, and Pinterest (PINS.N)—refused responsibility for the Angry Birds campaign.

The ministry spent money with Taboola (TBLA.O), Outbrain (OB.O), Alphabet (GOOGL.O), Google, and X, previously Twitter, according to Saranga. Taboola and Outbrain denied responsibility for the gaming ads.

Google showed over 90 foreign ministry advertisements but did not specify where they appeared. No one from Twitter, X, responded to inquiries for comment. Palestine TV, a Palestinian Authority-affiliated news service, marketed a few Arabic-language videos, but Reuters discovered no further Palestinian digital advertising.

A representative of the Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry said the ministry was using evidence of Gazans suffering under the Israeli bombardment after the Oct. 7 attack to sway public opinion. Still, it did not say if it was using advertising.

Gaza’s Islamist government, Hamas, did not reply to Reuters requests for media campaign comments. Reuters found six incidents in Britain, France, Austria, Germany, and Holland where individuals or their children saw Cassis’ son’s advertisements. LazyDog Game’s “Alice’s Mergeland” featured the Cassis family’s commercials. Ads featured on family-friendly digital games include “Stack,” “Balls’n Ropes,” “Solitaire: Card Game 2023,” and “Subway Surfers.”

A 24-year-old Munich intern, Alexandra Marginean, was astonished to discover the pro-Israel movie during her Solitaire game.

“I had a very aggressive reaction,” Marginean stated. Requests for feedback from LazyDog Game were ignored. Stack’s Ubisoft-owned (UBIP.PA) developer Ketchapp, Solitaire’s Austrian developer nerByte, Balls’n Ropes’ Turkish developer Rollic, and Subway Surfers’ Danish creator SYBO Games did not respond to advertising inquiries.

Apple (AAPL.O) and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google, which monitor iPhone and Android applications, forwarded queries to the games’ makers.

In Britain, where Cassis and her son live, the Advertising Standards Authority oversees advertising activities. It stated graphic advertising should be “carefully targeted away from under-18s.” It was not probing Israeli government commercials.


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