Israel Iran Conflict Unleashes Wave Of Ai Disinformation Bbc

A wave of disinformation has been unleashed online since Israel began strikes on Iran last week, with dozens of posts reviewed by BBC Verify seeking to amplify the effectiveness of Tehran's response. Our analysis found a number of videos - created using artificial intelligence - boasting of Iran's military capabilities, alongside fake clips showing the aftermath of strikes on Israeli targets. The three most viewed fake videos BBC Verify found have collectively amassed over 100 million views across multiple platforms. Pro-Israeli accounts have also shared disinformation online, mainly by recirculating old clips of protests and gatherings in Iran, falsely claiming that they show mounting dissent against the government and support among Iranians for Israel's... Israel launched strikes in Iran on 13 June, leading to several rounds of Iranian missile and drone attacks on Israel. One organisation that analyses open-source imagery described the volume of disinformation online as "astonishing" and accused some "engagement farmers" of seeking to profit from the conflict by sharing misleading content designed to attract attention...

AI dis­in­for­ma­tion cen­tered on the Israel-Iran con­flict has reached unprece­dent­ed lev­els dur­ing recent mil­i­tary exchanges between the two nations. On June 19, 2025, BBC Ver­i­fy report­ed that dozens of AI-gen­er­at­ed videos false­ly depict­ing Iran­ian mil­i­tary suc­cess­es have col­lec­tive­ly gar­nered over 100 mil­lion views across social plat­forms, mark­ing what experts describe as “the first... A wave of dis­in­for­ma­tion has been unleashed online since Israel began strikes on Iran last week, with dozens of posts reviewed by BBC Ver­i­fy seek­ing to ampli­fy the effec­tive­ness of Tehran’s response. Our analy­sis found a num­ber of videos — cre­at­ed using arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence — boast­ing of Iran’s mil­i­tary capa­bil­i­ties, along­side fake clips show­ing the after­math of strikes on Israeli tar­gets. The three most viewed fake videos BBC Ver­i­fy found have col­lec­tive­ly amassed over 100 mil­lion views across mul­ti­ple plat­forms. Pro-Israeli accounts have also shared dis­in­for­ma­tion online, main­ly by recir­cu­lat­ing old clips of protests and gath­er­ings in Iran, false­ly claim­ing that they show mount­ing dis­sent against the gov­ern­ment and sup­port among Ira­ni­ans for Israel’s...

Israel launched strikes in Iran on 13 June, lead­ing to sev­er­al rounds of Iran­ian mis­sile and drone attacks on Israel. One organ­i­sa­tion that analy­ses open-source imagery described the vol­ume of dis­in­for­ma­tion online as “aston­ish­ing” and accused some “engage­ment farm­ers” of seek­ing to prof­it from the con­flict by shar­ing mis­lead­ing con­tent designed to attract atten­tion... Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0k78715enxo Iran’s Islam­ic Repub­lic of Iran Broad­cast­ing (IRIB) serves as a core instru­ment in Tehran’s expan­sive dig­i­tal influ­ence and dis­in­for­ma­tion cam­paigns, blend­ing state media with covert online oper­a­tions to project Iran­ian nar­ra­tives glob­al­ly. The IRIB’s exten­sive mul­ti­lin­gual broad­cast­ing net­work and dig­i­tal plat­forms are cen­tral to ramp­ing up dig­i­tal influ­ence oper­a­tions tar­get­ing diverse inter­na­tion­al audi­ences, often coor­di­nat­ed with the Islam­ic Rev­o­lu­tion­ary Guard Corps and intel­li­gence ser­vices. These cam­paigns uti­lize a com­plex web of seem­ing­ly inde­pen­dent news out­lets and social media accounts to ampli­fy Tehran’s mes­sag­ing, as seen in the deploy­ment of coor­di­nat­ed dig­i­tal cam­paigns that obscure facts and pro­mote Iran­ian-backed...

High-pro­file events like the use of fake per­sonas and pri­vate mes­sag­ing apps to tar­get activists and adver­saries fur­ther illus­trate the regime’s efforts to expand its soft pow­er. The IRIB’s oper­a­tions span dozens of lan­guages and hun­dreds of plat­forms, pos­ing sig­nif­i­cant chal­lenges to glob­al infor­ma­tion integri­ty and neces­si­tat­ing enhanced inter­na­tion­al coop­er­a­tion to counter these per­sis­tent influ­ence efforts. Inde­pen­dent research high­lights that Iran’s influ­ence cam­paigns are deeply embed­ded in its psy­cho­log­i­cal war­fare doc­trine, com­bin­ing tra­di­tion­al pro­pa­gan­da with sophis­ti­cat­ed dig­i­tal tac­tics, includ­ing the use of bot­nets and con­tent laun­der­ing through proxy web­sites. Despite sanc­tions and plat­form take­downs, IRIB’s influ­ence appa­ra­tus remains resilient, mir­ror­ing broad­er trends in state-backed dis­in­for­ma­tion observed by inter­na­tion­al mon­i­tor­ing groups. Get the latest updates delivered to your inbox every day, and stay up-to-date for free 🧠📈 Get the latest updates delivered to your inbox every day, and stay up-to-date for free 🧠📈

Israel-Iran conflict unleashes wave of AI disinformation Israel launched strikes in Iran on 13 June, leading to several rounds of Iranian missile and drone attacks on Israel. One organisation that analyses open-source imagery described the volume of disinformation online as "astonishing" and accused some "engagement farmers" of seeking to profit from the conflict by sharing misleading content designed to attract attention... "We are seeing everything from unrelated footage from Pakistan, to recycled videos from the October 2024 strikes -- some of which have amassed over 20 million views -- as well as game clips and... Certain accounts have become "super-spreaders" of disinformation, being rewarded with significant growth in their follower count. One pro-Iranian account with no obvious ties to authorities in Tehran - Daily Iran Military - has seen its followers on X grow from just over 700,000 on 13 June to 1.4m by 19...

It is one many obscure accounts that have appeared in people's feeds recently. All have blue ticks, are prolific in messaging and have repeatedly posted disinformation. Because some use seemingly official names, some people have assumed they are authentic accounts, but it is unclear who is actually running the profiles. The torrent of disinformation marked "the first time we've seen generative AI be used at scale during a conflict," Emmanuelle Saliba, Chief Investigative Officer with the analyst group Get Real, told BBC Verify. Accounts reviewed by BBC Verify frequently shared AI-generated images that appear to be seeking to exaggerate the success of Iran's response to Israel's strikes. One image, which has 27m views, depicted dozens of missiles falling on the city of Tel Aviv.

Another video purported to show a missile strike on a building in the Israeli city late at night. Ms Saliba said the clips often depict night-time attacks, making them especially difficult to verify. AI fakes have also focussed on claims of destruction of Israeli F-35 fighter jets, a state-of-the art US-made plane capable of striking ground and air targets. If the barrage of clips were real Iran would have destroyed 15% of Israel's fleet of the fighters, Lisa Kaplan, CEO of the Alethea analyst group, told BBC Verify. We have yet to authenticate any footage of F-35s being shot down. One widely shared post claimed to show a jet damaged after being shot down in the Iranian desert.

However, signs of AI manipulation were evident: civilians around the jet were the same size as nearby vehicles, and the sand showed no signs of impact. How AI Is Has Turned Propaganda Into a Potent Weapon - Decrypt Since Israel and Iran resorted to full-on assaults last week, a lot of false information has been spread online using AI. Research conducted by BBC Verify found several videos that bragged about Iran’s military power, along with fake videos that claimed to show the effects of attacks on Israeli targets. Most of the posts reportedly attempted to amplify the effects of Tehran’s attacks. The three most-watched fake videos have collectively amassed over 100 million views across multiple platforms.

Online, pro-Iran accounts have also spread false information, mostly by sharing old videos of protests and gatherings in Iran. They show more people protesting against the government and supporting Israel’s military campaign. People make money off Middle East tensions. One group that analyzes open-source images wrote that a significant amount of false information online was “astonishing.” They cited some people spreading false information to get attention. We are seeing everything from unrelated footage from Pakistan, to recycled videos from the October 2024 strikes—some of which have amassed over 20 million views—as well as game clips and AI-generated content being passed... Examples include videos sharing moreermariant sources on YouTube, repeatingias cheekincrac.xyz, and True-Tube.

Despite consistent evidence of fake FIHM, people can’t stop spreading them. Daily Iran Military, a pro-Iranian account that doesn’t seem to have any ties to the government in Tehran, gained 1.4 million followers on X in less than a week, up from just over 700,000... Emmanuelle Saliba, Chief Investigative Officer at the research group Get Real, said that there was “the first time we’ve seen generative AI be used at scale during a conflict.” Israel launched strikes in Iran... Fake reports that Israeli F-35 fighter jets were destroyed were also reported. AI fakes have focused on reports that Israeli F-35 fighter jets were destroyed. The F-35 is a high-tech US-made plane that can attack targets on the ground and in the air.

Some groups claim that a video of F-35s being shot down is real, given the limitations of this vehicle and its proximity to什什人. Lisa Kaplan, the head of the Alethea analyst group, states that if the clips were real, Iran would have sunk 15% of Israel’s fleet of jets. However, there is still no proof of such claims. Many people are interested in F-35s, as this is a high @@ technology plane that can attack both ground and air targets. It would heavily factor into Israel’s geopolitical strategy, affecting supply chains and international relations. The Israel-Iran conflict has prompted an explosive wave of disinformation on social media, particularly following Israel’s military actions against Iran initiated on June 13.

BBC Verify has analyzed numerous instances of AI-generated content aimed at exaggerating Iran’s military prowess, as well as misleading footage depicting the effects of strikes on Israeli positions. The analysis reveals that three particularly influential fake videos have collectively garnered over 100 million views across various platforms. While pro-Iranian accounts have certainly contributed to the spread of disinformation, pro-Israeli narratives have also exploited older footage of protests in Iran, falsely claiming support for Israel among the Iranian populace. The effectiveness of such disinformation campaigns has been remarkable; one pro-Iranian account, Daily Iran Military, saw a surge in followers from 700,000 to 1.4 million in just six days, exemplifying how quickly misleading information... According to Emmanuelle Saliba, Chief Investigative Officer at Get Real, this conflict marks the first instance where generative AI has been employed en masse. Accounts associated with misinformation frequently disseminate AI-generated images that exaggerate the claims of Iranian military success, creating a challenging landscape for verification.

Some of the most widely circulated content included a video with 27 million views, inaccurately showing missile attacks on Tel Aviv. Another alleged to display a missile striking an Israeli building at night, a portrayal that complicates verification efforts. Moreover, claims about the destruction of Israel’s advanced F-35 jets have circulated without sufficient proof of authenticity. Lisa Kaplan from Alethea pointed out that the majority of these claims focus on F-35 capabilities, possibly aiming to undermine perceptions of Western military strength, particularly as Russian influence operations evolve. The motivations for spreading disinformation vary, including attempts by some to capitalize on the conflict for financial gain through social media platforms offering profit-sharing for high-engagement posts. While pro-Iranian narratives often suggest dissent against the Iranian government, some accounts are generating misleading AI content suggesting widespread support for Israel in Iranian streets.

A wave of disinformation has been unleashed online since Israel began strikes on Iran last week, with dozens of posts reviewed by BBC Verify seeking to amplify the effectiveness of Tehran’s response. Our analysis found a number of videos - created using artificial intelligence - boasting of Iran’s military capabilities, alongside fake clips showing the aftermath of strikes on Israeli targets, reported by BBC. The three most viewed fake videos BBC Verify found have collectively amassed over 100 million views across multiple platforms. Pro-Israeli accounts have also shared disinformation online, mainly by recirculating old clips of protests and gatherings in Iran, falsely claiming that they show mounting dissent against the government and support among Iranians for Israel’s... Israel launched strikes in Iran on 13 June, leading to several rounds of Iranian missile and drone attacks on Israel. A wave of disinformation has been unleashed online since Israel began strikes on Iran last week, with dozens of posts reviewed by BBC Verify seeking to amplify the effectiveness of Tehran's response, APA reports...

Our analysis found a number of videos - created using artificial intelligence - boasting of Iran's military capabilities, alongside fake clips showing the aftermath of strikes on Israeli targets. The three most viewed fake videos BBC Verify found have collectively amassed over 100 million views across multiple platforms. Pro-Israeli accounts have also shared disinformation online, mainly by recirculating old clips of protests and gatherings in Iran, falsely claiming that they show mounting dissent against the government and support among Iranians for Israel's... Israel launched strikes in Iran on 13 June, leading to several rounds of Iranian missile and drone attacks on Israel. One organisation that analyses open-source imagery described the volume of disinformation online as "astonishing" and accused some "engagement farmers" of seeking to profit from the conflict by sharing misleading content designed to attract attention...

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