AI-Fueled Disinformation Escalates in Israel-Iran Conflict: A New Era of Digital Warfare

Israel-Iran conflict unleashes wave of AI disinformation

Israel launched strikes in Iran on 13 June, leading to several rounds of Iranian missile and drone attacks on Israel. One organisation that analyses open-source imagery described the volume of disinformation online as "astonishing" and accused some "engagement farmers" of seeking to profit from the conflict by sharing misleading content designed to attract attention online. "We are seeing everything from unrelated footage from Pakistan, to recycled videos from the October 2024 strikes -- some of which have amassed over 20 million views -- as well as game clips and AI-generated content being passed off as real events," Geoconfirmed, the online verification group, wrote on X. Certain accounts have become "super-spreaders" of disinformation, being rewarded with significant growth in their follower count. One pro-Iranian account with no obvious ties to authorities in Tehran - Daily Iran Military - has seen its followers on X grow from just over 700,000 on 13 June to 1.4m by 19 June, an 85% increase in under a week. It is one many obscure accounts that have appeared in people's feeds recently. All have blue ticks, are prolific in messaging and have repeatedly posted disinformation. Because some use seemingly official names, some people have assumed they are authentic accounts, but it is unclear who is actually running the profiles. The torrent of disinformation marked "the first time we've seen generative AI be used at scale during a conflict," Emmanuelle Saliba, Chief Investigative Officer with the analyst group Get Real, told BBC Verify. Accounts reviewed by BBC Verify frequently shared AI-generated images that appear to be seeking to exaggerate the success of Iran's response to Israel's strikes. One image, which has 27m views, depicted dozens of missiles falling on the city of Tel Aviv. Another video purported to show a missile strike on a building in the Israeli city late at night. Ms Saliba said the clips often depict night-time attacks, making them especially difficult to verify. AI fakes have also focussed on claims of destruction of Israeli F-35 fighter jets, a state-of-the art US-made plane capable of striking ground and air targets. If the barrage of clips were real Iran would have destroyed 15% of Israel's fleet of the fighters, Lisa Kaplan, CEO of the Alethea analyst group, told BBC Verify. We have yet to authenticate any footage of F-35s being shot down. One widely shared post claimed to show a jet damaged after being shot down in the Iranian desert. However, signs of AI manipulation were evident: civilians around the jet were the same size as nearby vehicles, and the sand showed no signs of impact.

Tech-fueled misinformation distorts Iran-Israel fighting

Washington (AFP) - AI deepfakes, video game footage passed off as real combat, and chatbot-generated falsehoods -- such tech-enabled misinformation is distorting the Israel-Iran conflict, fueling a war of narratives across social media. The information warfare unfolding alongside ground combat -- sparked by Israel's strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities and military leadership -- underscores a digital crisis in the age of rapidly advancing AI tools that have blurred the lines between truth and fabrication. The surge in wartime misinformation has exposed an urgent need for stronger detection tools, experts say, as major tech platforms have largely weakened safeguards by scaling back content moderation and reducing reliance on human fact-checkers. After Iran struck Israel with barrages of missiles last week, AI-generated videos falsely claimed to show damage inflicted on Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Airport. The videos were widely shared across Facebook, Instagram and X. Using a reverse image search, AFP's fact-checkers found that the clips were originally posted by a TikTok account that produces AI-generated content. There has been a "surge in generative AI misinformation, specifically related to the Iran-Israel conflict," Ken Jon Miyachi, founder of the Austin-based firm BitMindAI, told AFP. "These tools are being leveraged to manipulate public perception, often amplifying divisive or misleading narratives with unprecedented scale and sophistication." 'Photo-realism' GetReal Security, a US company focused on detecting manipulated media including AI deepfakes, also identified a wave of fabricated videos related to the Israel-Iran conflict. The company linked the visually compelling videos -- depicting apocalyptic scenes of war-damaged Israeli aircraft and buildings as well as Iranian missiles mounted on a trailer -- to Google's Veo 3 AI generator, known for hyper-realistic visuals. The Veo watermark is visible at the bottom of an online video posted by the news outlet Tehran Times, which claims to show "the moment an Iranian missile" struck Tel Aviv. "It is no surprise that as generative-AI tools continue to improve in photo-realism, they are being misused to spread misinformation and sow confusion," said Hany Farid, the co-founder of GetReal Security and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Farid offered one tip to spot such deepfakes: the Veo 3 videos were normally eight seconds in length or a combination of clips of a similar duration. "This eight-second limit obviously doesn't prove a video is fake, but should be a good reason to give you pause and fact-check before you re-share," he said. The falsehoods are not confined to social media. Disinformation watchdog NewsGuard has identified 51 websites that have advanced more than a dozen false claims -- ranging from AI-generated photos purporting to show mass destruction in Tel Aviv to fabricated reports of Iran capturing Israeli pilots. Sources spreading these false narratives include Iranian military-linked Telegram channels and state media sources affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), sanctioned by the US Treasury Department, NewsGuard said. 'Control the narrative' "We're seeing a flood of false claims and ordinary Iranians appear to be the core targeted audience," McKenzie Sadeghi, a researcher with NewsGuard, told AFP. Sadeghi described Iranian citizens as "trapped in a sealed information environment," where state media outlets dominate in a chaotic attempt to "control the narrative." Iran itself claimed to be a victim of tech manipulation, with local media reporting that Israel briefly hacked a state television broadcast, airing footage of women's protests and urging people to take to the streets. Adding to the information chaos were online clips lifted from war-themed video games. AFP's fact-checkers identified one such clip posted on X, which falsely claimed to show an Israeli jet being shot down by Iran. The footage bore striking similarities to the military simulation game Arma 3. Israel's military has rejected Iranian media reports claiming its fighter jets were downed over Iran as "fake news." Chatbots such as xAI's Grok, which online users are increasingly turning to for instant fact-checking, falsely identified some of the manipulated visuals as real, researchers said. "This highlights a broader crisis in today's online information landscape: the erosion of trust in digital content," BitMindAI's Miyachi said. "There is an urgent need for better detection tools, media literacy, and platform accountability to safeguard the integrity of public discourse."

What is the 'soft war' version of the Israel-Iran war that's escalating tensions?

Tensions between Israel and Iran are high. A digital war is also happening. Fake videos and images are spreading online. These show false scenes of the conflict. Millions have viewed these fabricated clips. Experts say this is the first major conflict with such AI influence. Disinformation spreads quickly on social media. This makes it hard to know what is real.As military tensions between Israel and Iran reach new heights, a parallel "soft war" is raging online, where artificial intelligence-generated disinformation is shaping global perceptions of the conflict on an unprecedented scale. Investigators warn that millions are being exposed to fabricated images and videos, making it increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction in real-time. This digital onslaught has seen over 100 million views on just the three most viral fake videos, according to BBC Verify. These AI-generated clips and images, widely shared across platforms like X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and Instagram, depict scenes such as Israeli F-35 jets being shot down and missile strikes on Tel Aviv. Forensic analysis has confirmed these are fabrications, often created using advanced AI tools or repurposed from video games and unrelated past events. This digital barrage began after Israel launched airstrikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites on June 13, prompting retaliatory missile and drone attacks from Iran. Almost immediately, a surge of AI-generated videos and images flooded social media, purporting to show dramatic battlefield victories, destroyed aircraft, and devastated cities. Some of these visuals, such as images of destroyed aircraft and missile strikes on Tel Aviv, have been traced to advanced AI video generators and marked with watermarks from tools like Google's Veo 3. Iranian state media and official Israeli channels have both been caught sharing misleading or outdated visuals, further worsening the information environment. The consequences are profound: not only are public perceptions being manipulated, but both sides of the conflict are leveraging these tactics. Pro-Iranian accounts, such as the rapidly growing "Daily Iran Military," which does not appear to have any direct links to Tehran authorities, experienced a remarkable surge in popularity -- its follower count on X soared from just over 700,000 on June 13 to 1.4 million by June 19, marking an 85% jump in less than a week. Meanwhile, some pro-Israeli sources have recycled old protest footage, presenting it as fresh evidence of unrest in Iran. Experts say this is the first major conflict where generative AI is being deployed at such a scale to influence narratives. Emmanuelle Saliba of Get Real calls it "unprecedented," while Lisa Kaplan, CEO of Alethea, notes that none of the viral footage showing downed Israeli jets has been authenticated. Instead, these clips exploit the speed and reach of social media to amplify falsehoods. The spread of disinformation is further accelerated by so-called "engagement farming," where accounts -- many with verified status -- post sensational content to attract followers and monetize their reach. Analysts have also traced some of these networks to foreign influence operations, particularly Russian-linked groups seeking to undermine Western military credibility.