Parallel investigations by Israeli newspapers and the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab have revealed that Israeli-funded online campaigns in the Persian language are using fake social media personas and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to achieve two primary goals: boosting the public image of Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last Shah, and destabilizing the Iranian regime.
Key Findings:
- Pahlavi Promotion: An Israeli-based operation, funded by an entity with Israeli government support, employed native Persian speakers and AI tools to run fake accounts. This campaign actively worked to amplify Pahlavi’s image and monarchist narratives, coinciding with his high-profile visit to Israel in early 2023.
- Destabilization Efforts: A separate network exposed by Citizen Lab utilized over 50 inauthentic, AI-generated accounts. Its activity was coordinated with Israeli military actions, such as the airstrike on Tehran’s Evin Prison. The network prematurely posted about the strike, disseminated a fake, AI-generated video of an explosion, and urged Iranians to march on the prison to incite unrest.
- Fabrication: The campaigns created and spread fabricated content, including a fake screenshot of a BBC Persian report claiming Iranian officials were fleeing, and a deepfake video of an Iranian singer.
- Expert View: Experts, like Raz Zimmt of the INSS, view the promotion of the monarchy with skepticism, arguing that while Iranians desire change, restoring the monarchy is unpopular and ultimately supports the Iranian regime’s narrative of foreign interference.
