Disinformation experts warned Friday that activists are using Iranian regime resources to orchestrate anti-Israel protests in Canada.
Marcus Kolga founded DisinfoWatch in 2007 to monitor and expose state-sponsored attempts to hijack social media for malicious purposes aimed at stoking social divisions.
He has seen a surge in such activity since Hamas’ invasion of Israel last October, and a recent anti-Israel, pro-Hamas protest at McGill University appears to have been fueled by a social media influence campaign potentially linked to Iran. National Post ReportsHe told the media in an email:
Over the past nine months, DisinfoWatch has observed social media accounts that previously actively posted anti-Ukrainian content now supplement their harmful content with anti-Zionist content.
We also know that Russian intelligence services have supported anti-Semitic active measures and influence operations.
Kolga also pointed to a joint effort between US and Canadian intelligence agencies that uncovered around 1,000 bot accounts designed to spread the Russian government’s message, calling it a striking example of recent attempts to exploit Western democracies.
Korga said Iran was a key part of the network working with Russia.
“We are observing a clear overlap between pro-Kremlin/anti-Ukraine and anti-Zionist/pro-Hamas rhetoric from prominent influencers on the far-left and far-right,” said Kolga, who is also a cyber expert at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
According to a new report from XPOZ, a cybersecurity company that uses artificial intelligence to fight disinformation. found Anti-Israel protests at McGill University were allegedly fuelled by a social media influence campaign that may have ties to Iran.
Pro-Palestinian students and activists protest at an encampment on the campus of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, on April 29, 2024. About 100 people set up the encampment to demand that the university divest from Israel-related funding. (GRAHAM HUGHES/AFP via Getty)
“Since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, McGill University and its students have been the target of coordinated and false foreign narrative attacks,” XPOZ said in the report. post.
The company looked at how social media users discussing the McGill camp were interacting online and found a disproportionate number of Persian and Arabic-language commenters. These accounts were amplifying support for the McGill student camp, openly supporting Hamas, and accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza.
In early July, campus security removed the school encampment and evacuated the area.
“The campaign made extensive use of fake profiles to amplify the narrative and expand the reach of its narrative, many of which were fake foreign nationals,” XPOZ wrote.
