· Media analytics firm Graphika claimed Iran tried to sway US
voters in 2012
· Iranian broadcasting company alleged to have used fake accounts
on Facebook
· Posts were made in effort to help Ron Paul win the 2012
Republican nomination
· Iran allegedly tried to sabotage GOP rival Mitt Romney, who
became nominee
Iran posted items on
Facebook in an attempt to sway American voters taking part in the 2012
Republican presidential primary, it has been claimed.
A report by
the media analytics firm Graphika shows several posts on the social media giant
which are said to have been fabricated by Iran in an effort to boost the candidacy
of Ron Paul and sabotage the chances of Mitt Romney.
The alleged
campaign was years before the Russian Internet Research Agency was alleged to
have launched a widespread disinformation campaign through social media in an
attempt to influence the 2016 elections.
The Iranian effort is alleged to have been
undertaken by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, according to Graphika
researchers.
The report
claimed that IRIB ran more than 300 active, fake accounts that contained
content about global politics.
In March of
last year, Facebook said it shut down more than 2,600 fake accounts linked to Iran, Russia,
Macedonia and Kosovo and aiming to influence political sentiment in various parts of the
world.
+5
·
Iran is
alleged to have used fake accounts on Facebook in an attempt to sway American voters during the 2012 Republican presidential primary.
The image above shows Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on April 9
+5
It has been alleged that Iran tried to boost the candidacy of Ron Paul (right) while
being critical of his rival, Mitt Romney (left)
It was the
latest effort by the leading social network to shut down 'inauthentic' accounts
on Facebook and Instagram seeking to influence politics in the US and elsewhere.
The accounts blocked in the four countries were not necessarily centrally
coordinated but 'used similar tactics by creating networks of accounts to
mislead others about who they were and what they were doing,' said Nathaniel Gleicher, head
of cybersecurity policy for the company.
But the
Graphika report alleges that Iran was involved in disinformation
tactics through Facebook as far back as the 2012 Republican primary race.
Several posts
from that year show cartoons in support of the GOP presidential candidate Ron
Paul.
The posts
cited Paul’s criticism of Israel, a country that Iran considers its sworn enemy.
· Next
The Iranians are also said to have posted
messages critical of Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and current United States senator from Utah.
Unlike Paul,
Romney, who eventually won the nomination but lost to the incumbent, Barack Obama,
was a vocal supporter of Israel.
The Iranian Facebook campaign is also alleged
to have posted content about the Occupy Wall Street movement as well as links
to stories about police brutality and racial strife in America.
+5
·
A media analytics firm claims that Iran tried to help Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul
during the 2012 GOP primary
3
+5
·
The firm, Graphika, claims that the Iranian government mounted a disinformation campaign through
Facebook with the aim of sabotaging the candidacy of the eventual nominee, Mitt
Romney
+5
·
Iran is
also said to have posted about the Occupy movement, according to Graphika
An Iranian government spokesperson told NBC
News: ‘The Iranian government does not engage in cyber
warfare.
‘Iran,
itself a victim of US and Israeli cyber attacks, the Stuxnet virus, a
cyber attack against Iran's peaceful nuclear activities, is one
dangerous example.
‘Cyber activities Iran engages in are purely defensive and
to protect against further attacks on Iranian infrastructure.
‘Besides, the US, not Iran, has been one
of main member-state opponents of a universal ban of using the
cyber warfare in the UN and beyond.’
During the
2016 elections, the Russian government allegedly masterminded a widespread
disinformation campaign aimed at sowing dissension in the United States.
Russia has
denied the allegation.
The Russian
effort was the subject of an investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
The probe by
Mueller raised questions as to whether Russia was aided in its efforts either
by members of the Trump campaign or their supporters.
Mueller’s
investigators concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence to implicate Trump associates with conspiring with
Russia.
پیش بسوی قیام سراسری ، ما بر اندازیم# کانونهای شورشی در شهرهای ایران # #Iran
#سال_سرنگونی #ایران #کروناویروس #قیام_تا_پیروزی #coronavirus
اعتصاب واعتراض #شورش #زندانیان ، تظاهرات# سرنگونی #COVID2019 # اتحادوهمبستگی - مرگ_بر_دیکتاتور #مجاهدین_خلق ایران #IranRegimeChange
ما را در توئیتر دنبال کنید @Bahar iranحساب توئیتری 7
