Iran has built a prolific and effective digital influence apparatus. How does the Iranian government use it? What does it intend? See new report by @etbrooking & @KianpourWorld. atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-resea…
As of this month, Facebook had identified roughly 2,200 Iranian assets affecting 6 million users. Twitter had identified 8,000 accounts responsible for 8.5 million messages. The scale of these attributions is second only to Russia. 
This apparatus targets regions across the world: in North America, certainly, but also in North and West Africa, in Southeast Asia, in Europe, and most notably in Latin America and the Middle East.
Much of this content cannot be characterized as “disinformation.” In sharp contrast to the information operations of Russia, which routinely disseminate false stories with the aim of polluting the information environment, Iran makes less use of obvious falsehood.
Instead, Iran advances a distorted truth that exaggerates Iran’s moral authority while minimizing Iran’s repression of its citizens & the steep human cost of its own imperial adventures in wider Middle East. Iranian proxies frequently repackage content from Iranian state media.
Iran’s digital influence efforts work to advance its foreign policy goals. These are, broadly, to define itself as a Shia religious beacon; to appear as a champion against perceived neo-colonialism; 7 especially to portray itself as leading opposition against the United States.
Because Iran does not have full access to the global information environment due to U.S. sanctions, it has turned to sockpuppets and coordinated inauthentic behavior to communicate these messages. The result is a new kind of guerilla broadcasting apparatus.
For history, policy analysis, recommendations, and much more regarding Iran’s digital influence campaigns, see the full report. atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-resea…
