Meta dismantles Iranian AI-driven influence network targeting US citizens
Meta dismantled a network of inauthentic accounts on Facebook and Instagram operated by Iranian actors who used artificial intelligence to create content and impersonate American citizens in order to influence US political discourse. The accounts posted about US politics, including anti-Republican messaging, and attempted to contact journalists and politicians, though without success.
What happened
Meta removed a network of accounts on Facebook and Instagram linked to an operation based in Iran that used artificial intelligence to identify and target American citizens with posts about US politics. The operation used AI to generate portions of the content posted, including memes, and created fake accounts posing as American activists, students, and graphic designers supposedly living in major cities such as Washington, San Diego, and Atlanta.
The accounts posted memes and content with anti-Republican messaging as well as posts about the Israel-Palestine conflict and migration. Managers of the accounts tagged real journalists and politicians in posts and sent direct messages to high-profile political figures and news organizations proposing content creation collaborations, though Meta reported that none of these collaboration attempts were successful. Approximately 79,400 accounts followed one or more of these inauthentic accounts.
Reported impact
The operation attracted thousands of followers across the Facebook and Instagram accounts before being dismantled.
Governance controls
Meta stated it shared information about the operation with US law enforcement authorities.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.