Instagram-powered Iranian influence operation against US dismantled

Meta has announced taking down an Iran-linked influence operation that leveraged fraudulent personas on Instagram to establish trust with U.S. users of the social media platform before introducing and amplifying political messaging late last year, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

Nearly 300 Instagram and Facebook accounts purporting to be journalists, commentators, and other individuals who posted content opposing U.S. and Israel policy in the Middle East have been removed as part of the operation, noted Meta. Such Instagram accounts, which have nearly 41,000 followers, were found to have minimal user engagement. Notable influence campaigns following the joint U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran have yet to be observed, according to Meta.

"In situations like this, influence operations don't usually appear overnight. It often takes time for actors to pivot their messaging and build out the infrastructure needed to run these campaigns," said Meta Director of Global Threat Disruption David Agranovich.