Iran was accused of large-scale state online propaganda
A Reuters investigation has revealed hundreds of accounts in social networks and dozens of sites “in the service of Tehran.”
Upstairs
Last week, Facebook, Google and Twitter announced the blocking dozens of accounts and websites that are reportedly associated with the Iranian authorities. Reuters conducted its own investigation and found “a vast Iranian network of disinformation and political manipulation.”
Reuters found ten anonymous websites and dozens of accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. According to the Agency, they are part of a project by Tehran to spread its state propaganda around the world.
The company FireEye and ClearSky involved in software development in the field of cyber security, told Reuters that the sites and the accounts belong to the International Union of virtual media (International Union of Virtual Media, IUVM), an organization working for the Iranian government. It distributes content Iranian state media such as PressTV and the Agency FASR, or TV channel al-Manar, owned by the Shiite movement Hezbollah, which is supported by Tehran. Often IUVM hides the source of the content when it is disseminated in social networks and on their own sites.