Network linked to Israel pushes to shape external Iran protest narrative

"Transcendent moments in geopolitics that reverberate around the world are no longer just forged in the streets or inside situation rooms. They are increasingly engineered in the digital sphere, where actors, often with a self-serving agenda, compete to control the narrative, define its meaning and decide who speaks for whom. In recent weeks as protests erupted in Iranian cities, the hashtag #FreeThePersianPeople trended on X."

"However, an extensive data analysis by Al Jazeera reveals a different picture. Data from Tweet Binder reveals that most of the posts lack organic engagement [Al Jazeera] Tracking the sources of this interaction and its dissemination paths uncovers that the digital campaign did not originate organically from within Iran. Instead, it was spearheaded by external networks primarily accounts linked to Israel or pro-Israel circles that played a central role in manufacturing momentum and steering the discourse toward specific geopolitical goals."

"The data associated with the campaign reveals a striking anomaly in how the hashtag spread, indicative of artificial amplification. Al Jazeera's analysis found that 94 percent of the 4,370 posts analysed were retweets compared with a negligible percentage of original content. More significantly, the number of accounts producing original content did not exceed 170 users, yet the campaign reached more than 18 million users."

A coordinated campaign hijacked the #FreeThePersianPeople hashtag on X, driven primarily by external networks linked to Israel and pro-Israel circles. Most posts displayed artificial amplification and lacked organic engagement. Analysis of 4,370 posts found 94 percent were retweets, with fewer than 170 accounts producing original content. The campaign reached over 18 million users despite the small number of original sources. The disparity between creators and reach indicates astroturfing and coordinated influence operations that amplified pre-packaged messages to manufacture momentum and steer discourse toward geopolitical objectives.

Read at www.aljazeera.com