More intense and more ... than anything that had come before: How experts 'define' Psychological Warfare between Iran and Israel played on internet
* Iran sent alerts in Hebrew to thousands of Israeli mobile phones warning recipients to avoid bomb shelters as militants planned to attack those inside
* A video on Twitter and messaging app Telegram showed blast at an entrance to Evin prison, which is notorious for holding political prisoners
* False images of destroyed B-2 bombers appeared online when President Donald Trump ordered strikes on Iran's nuclear sites
Hours before Israeli forces bombed Evin prison in Tehran on June 23, 2025, Persian-language social media posts urged Iranians to free prisoners, foreshadowing the attack. A video, appearing moments after the strike on Twitter and Telegram, showed a supposed blast at the prison's entrance, notorious for housing political prisoners, accompanied by the hashtag '#freeevin.' According to researchers quoted by The New York Times in the report, these posts and the video were part of an Israeli disinformation campaign, not authentic content.
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Over 12 days of conflict, Israel and Iran are reported to have turned social media into a digital battlefield, using AI-driven deception alongside missile strikes that killed hundreds and destabilized the Middle East. Researchers noted an unprecedented intensity in this information warfare, leveraging generative AI and social media's reach to spread propaganda rapidly. 'It's certainly a new era of influence warfare,' said James J.F. Forest, a security studies professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, emphasizing the unmatched scale of modern propaganda.
Iran sent Hebrew-language alerts to Israeli phones, warning against using bomb shelters due to supposed militant attacks, while Israel-linked accounts on X used AI-generated content, including a narrated video by an AI-created woman, to undermine Iran's government. Both sides flooded platforms like X, Telegram, YouTube, and TikTok with fabricated images and videos, including manipulated footage of Evin prison and false claims of downed Israeli F-35s or a captured pilot, later debunked by organizations like NewsGuard (The New York Times).
What it means for future wars in the US and elsewhere
Experts warn that the heavy propaganda and deception offers a preview of what the United States or other nations would almost certainly face in case of war. Case in point are the fake images of destroyed B-2 bombers that appeared online when President Donald Trump ordered strikes on Iran's deeply buried nuclear sites.
"Some question how prepared the United States is, especially with Trump's administration cutting efforts to combat foreign influence operations. U.S. military strategy embraces information operations — which have been known in the Pentagon since 2010 as Military Information Support Operations — but they have often been treated as little more than a supporting role," the report said.
Hany Farid, a UC Berkeley professor and co-founder of GetReal Security, contrasted today's tactics with World War II's leaflets and radio broadcasts. 'Now you have a million messages that you send out to a million individuals,' he told New York Times. Despite widespread skepticism, these campaigns, viewed millions of times, aim to shape public perceptions, with Iran targeting regional audiences and Israel seeking to erode confidence in Iran's regime, according to Ari Ben-Am of Telemetry Data Labs.
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