New data show how Iran tried to manipulate public opinion on Twitter

Twitter accounts originating in Iran masqueraded as foreign journalists and concerned US citizens in their attempt to push political messages on the social media site until they were suspended earlier in 2018. The analysis — performed by the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab — reflects an attempt by some in Iran to “spread regime messaging through covert channels.” But researchers said the campaign had proved less pervasive and effective than the coordinated disinformation operation carried out by Russia, which focused its efforts instead on exacerbating social and political tensions in the United States during the 2016 election. "The scale and scope of the Russian troll farm drastically outweighed the scale and scope of the Iranian troll farm,” said Graham Brookie, the director and managing editor of the Digital Forensic Research Lab. Twitter on Oct 17 announced it would make available roughly 10 million tweets and 2 million images, live video and other content that had been created by the Iranian accounts and thousands of other, widely reported online trolls that previously had been tied to Russia.