The government-owned Israel Electric Company paid a PR company thousands of shekels to send internet talkbacks on its behalf – and is proud of it.

The Israel Electric Company (IEC) hired the Gov-Kartin public relations firm to send hundreds of talkbacks to economic articles published on various internet sites. The main targets of the talkbacks were articles published by Globes that were critical of IEC.

For instance, a Globes article this past March was headlined, “IEC delayed investment in Hadera project – and the consumers had to pay $200 million more in electric rates.” Talkbackers identifying themselves as Anshel, Gvirtzman and others responded that the article was a non-item, that IEC gave very good service, and the like.  An investigative piece by Yediot Acharonot’s weekly 7 Days supplement found that these talkbacks were paid for, and were not private initiatives.

Other articles were critical of IEC’s delay in installing coal chimney filters and its executives’ high salaries. The talkbacks-for-pay supported the high salaries and otherwise praised the company.

The spokesman for IEC, contacted by Yediot, did not try to deny the charges. On the contrary, he said, “The company took a series of steps to protect itself from the attack upon it.”

In addition, the Communications Committee of the IEC Directorate released this statement upon learning that Yediot was about to publish its findings: “We congratulate the IEC’s management for submitting complete and accurate information via the internet, in light of the attempts to assail the company’s management and activities.”

Globes noted that instead of apologizing or regretting the actions, the Committee wrote, “We have reviewed the contents of the messages submitted by the management, and we have found that they jibe with the company’s goals, and meet ethical and public standards. We advise the management to expand this activity to other internet channels as well, such as blogs, forums, discussion groups, and more.”

The issue has sparked more debate on the influence of big business on public opinion.