Web of deceit
Iran-based political propaganda operation: Bigger, persistent, global
An apparent Iranian influence operation targeting internet users worldwide is significantly bigger than previously identified, Reuters has found, encompassing a sprawling network of anonymous websites and social media accounts in 11 languages.
Facebook and other companies said last week that multiple social media accounts and websites were part of an Iranian project to covertly influence public opinion in other countries.
A Reuters analysis has identified 10 more sites and dozens of social media accounts across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
US-based cyber security firm FireEye Inc and Israeli firm ClearSky reviewed Reuters’ findings and said technical indicators showed the web of newlyidentified sites and social media accounts — called the International Union of Virtual Media, or IUVM — was a piece of the same campaign, parts of which were taken down last week by Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc.
IUVM pushes content from Iranian state media and other outlets aligned with the government in Tehran across the internet, often obscuring the original source of the information such as Iran’s PressTV, Fars news agency and Al Manar TV run by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The extended network of disinformation highlights how multiple state-affiliated groups are exploiting social media to manipulate users and further their geopolitical agendas, and how difficult it is for tech companies to guard against political interference on their platforms.
In July, a US grand jury indicted 12 Russians whom prosecutors said were intelligence officers, on charges of hacking political groups in the 2016 US presidential election. US officials have said Russia, which has denied the allegations, could also attempt to disrupt congressional elections in November.
Ben Nimmo, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab who has previously analysed disinformation campaigns for Facebook, said the IUVM network displayed the extent and scale of the Iranian operation.
“It’s a large-scale amplifier for Iranian state messaging,” Nimmo said. “This shows how easy it is to run an influence operation online, even when the level of skill is low. The Iranian operation relied on quantity, not quality, but it stayed undetected for years.”
Facebook spokesman Jay Nancarrow said the company is still investigating accounts and pages linked to Iran and had taken more down on Tuesday.
Twitter said the company had removed a further 486 accounts for violating its terms of use since last week, bringing the total number of suspended accounts to 770.
Google declined to comment but took down the IUVM TV YouTube account after Reuters contacted the company with questions about it. Reuters recorded the IUVM network operating in English, French, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Pashto, Russian, Hindi, Azerbaijani, Turkish and Spanish.
The Iranian operation relied on quantity, not quality, but it stayed undetected for years.” Ben Nimmo | Senior fellow at Atlantic Council’s digital research lab