Disinformation surges after Iran internet blackout, researchers say

The shutdown of Iran’s internet has stifled reliable reporting on the unrest and opened a gap that both the government and its critics have filled with propaganda, disinformation and fake images on social media, the report said. Experts have identified inauthentic accounts and bot networks on X, Instagram and other platforms spreading false and conflicting narratives, including AI-generated photographs and repurposed footage.

Much of the content has either sought to bolster the opposition — including support for Reza Pahlavi — or echoed Tehran’s claims that enemies such as the United States and Israel orchestrated the unrest, a view amplified in some allied state media. Researchers have reported multiple coordinated campaigns but say they cannot always identify who is behind them.

The Citizen Lab concluded a network of more than 50 inauthentic X profiles was organized by the Israeli government or a subcontractor, a Spanish firm found two Iranian campaigns with thousands of accounts pushing pro-government content, and other analyses have traced renewed activity aimed at building Mr.

Pahlavi as a focal opposition figure. "The conditions are ideal for actors attempting to exploit the internet shutdown to reshape narratives and public opinion concerning Iran," Layla Mashkoor of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab said. Experts cautioned that attribution remains unclear and that Iran’s internet blackout, in place since Jan.

Key Topics

World, Iran, Internet Blackout, Disinformation, Reza Pahlavi, X