- 75 pieces of misinformation were identified
- Video Dominance in Misinformation (85%)
- Propaganda Claims: 75% Favor Iran as Aggressor
- Fake Footage: 73% Depict Destruction in Israel
- Disparity in Claims: Attacks on Israeli vs. Iranian Facilities
Hundreds of men and women are seen scrambling in the mountains. A video like this has recently been viewed at least ten million times on social media. Analyzing the video’s caption and footage, it was claimed that this was a scene of Israeli citizens fleeing their country during the Iran-Israel conflict. However, verification revealed that this video has no connection to the conflict in question. The video is from Nepal, showing the collection of a fungus called Yarsagumba in its mountainous region. The spread of numerous fake videos and images was notable during the recent Iran-Israel conflict.
The conflict between Iran and Israel began on June 13, when Israel launched air and missile strikes on important Iranian nuclear facilities and various other locations. After 12 days of attacks, counter-responses, and threats, news of a ceasefire emerged. However, prior to this, over six hundred people were killed in Iran, including several high-ranking military officials and members, nuclear scientists, and civilians. International media reported damage to various Iranian nuclear and military-civilian installations due to Israeli attacks. On the other hand, at least 28 people were killed in Israel by Iranian attacks. Furthermore, Tehran claimed responsibility for attacks on various military and civilian installations in Israel, including the office of Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad. This means there is no doubt that both Iran and Israel suffered extensive damage in this 12-day conflict.
However, if you look at the misinformation spread by Bangladeshi netizens concerning this conflict, you will mostly only learn about Israel’s losses from Iranian attacks. Images or videos related to the other side’s (i.e., Iran’s) losses will rarely come to your attention.
Rumor Scanner identified 75 pieces of misinformation related to this recent conflict between Iran and Israel. Analyzing this misinformation, it was found that Iran’s name appeared in approximately 75% of these false claims, either as the aggressor or in favor of the propaganda. Conversely, nearly 73% of the fake footage promoted as destructive scenes was attributed to Israel. While multiple videos claiming the destruction of important Israeli installations were circulated during this conflict, no claims of attacks on any important Iranian installation with a specific name were found.
What the Analysis Reveals
Around 85% of the misinformation spread during the recent Iran-Israel conflict came in the form of videos. These videos included both old footage recirculated as new and videos from completely different events or contexts. A significant development this time was the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) content. Approximately 32% of the videos containing misinformation were generated using AI.
For example, two videos claiming to show Israeli soldiers and civilians pleading to stop the conflict were widely shared on social media, garnering at least 15 million views. However, Rumor Scanner verified that neither of these videos depicted real events. These AI-generated videos were created using Google’s Veo-3 technology. Veo is a Google service that allows for the creation of realistic-looking videos through AI, capable of generating lifelike footage from text prompts. Videos created with this tool typically feature a “Veo” watermark.
Videos spreading misinformation during the recent conflict, which ultimately involved Iran, Israel, and openly the United States, used old footage from multiple countries. The list of these countries includes China, Mexico, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, Nepal, Russia, Iraq, Yemen, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, England, and Pakistan. For example, a video of an attack on a residential building in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, in November 2024, was circulated with the claim that it showed Israel’s Defense Headquarters being destroyed by an Iranian missile attack. Videos related to this claim were viewed over two hundred thousand times.
In Bangladesh, there’s a tendency to spread misinformation on any issue using fake and edited photocards resembling those of media outlets. The Iran-Israel conflict was no exception. Four such fake photocards were identified, falsely implicating Shibir President Jahidul Islam, Shibir leader Sadik Kayem, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and India’s Priyanka Gandhi. Fake statements were circulated in their names through these counterfeit media photocards.
Pro-Iran Propaganda in the Conflict
According to information from international media, both Iran and Israel suffered significant damage in the 12-day conflict that occurred this month. However, an analysis of the misinformation spread in Bangladesh regarding this conflict reveals that out of 75 identified pieces of misinformation, 56 of them named Iran as the aggressor and contained content promoting the country’s side.
Among these, 51 pieces of misinformation directly claimed that Iran had carried out attacks. The remaining ones featured propaganda and comments from various countries in favor of Iran. In contrast, the proportion of misinformation related to attacks by Israel was very low (around three percent). The two pieces of misinformation identified in this category also involved India.
For example:
- A scene of Israeli anti-war protesters being dispersed was falsely presented as Israeli soldiers dragging Indians out.
- A scene of an Israeli splashing water on a Christian woman preaching in Jerusalem was falsely claimed to show Indians being insulted by Israelis while showing solidarity with Israel.
As the conflict neared its end, with the US becoming openly involved, there was also a spread of misinformation regarding attacks involving the US. Interestingly, Pakistan’s name also appeared in this list. A false claim surfaced that Pakistan had shot down an Israeli fighter jet, and a deepfake video circulated, claiming US President Donald Trump had made comments in favor of Pakistan.
Conversely, Israel’s name featured predominantly in most (around 73%) of the misinformation content, depicting scenes of damage and the destruction of various facilities. Some content even claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was killed in an Iranian drone attack. Another video circulated, falsely showing Netanyahu taking refuge in an underground bunker equivalent to 230 stories deep due to an Iranian attack. In reality, this was a video of Netanyahu running during his participation in the 2021 elections.
Rumor Scanner’s analysis indicates that fake videos of attacks on various important Israeli installations went widely viral during the conflict. While claims of attacks on multiple significant facilities appeared in the media, several such viral videos came to Rumor Scanner’s attention and were proven to be fake. For example, old footage of a different incident in China was circulated, claiming to show an Iranian attack on an Israeli arsenal. A Lebanese video was used to falsely claim the destruction of the Defense Headquarters, and an AI-generated video was promoted as showing the destruction of a defense ministry building. Similarly, a nearly ten-year-old video was circulated, falsely claiming the destruction of Israel’s nuclear power plant. AI-generated content was also promoted, purporting to show damage to at least two airports.
However, such widespread promotion of damage was rarely seen concerning Iran. On June 22, the United States attacked three Iranian nuclear facilities. Following this, a video spread, claiming to be footage of a US attack on the Fordow nuclear facility. However, verification revealed this was a 2024 scene of a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia. Apart from this single instance, there was no widespread circulation of fake content related to damage to Iran’s important facilities. Besides Iran and Israel, the names of three other countries (USA, Pakistan, India) also appeared in the promotion of this misinformation, where content was negatively presented by highlighting attacks or propaganda against these countries.
Biased Propaganda by Country?
To understand how misinformation about this conflict spread outside Bangladesh, Rumor Scanner spoke with two fact-checkers in India. When asked if there was similar one-sided propaganda in India, Riddhish Dutta, a member of Aaj Tak Bangla’s fact-checking department, said, “Unlike other issues where one-sided propaganda is usually seen, surprisingly, a completely one-sided picture didn’t emerge on social media in this case. However, yes, there was more propaganda claiming damage to Israel, roughly a 60-40 split.” Ankita Deshkar, a fact-checker from another Indian media outlet, The Indian Express, shared a similar view. She stated, “A clear shift was observed in the pattern of social media dissemination, where the volume of misleading information related to Israel was comparatively higher.”
Riddhish attributed this to the loyalty of a segment of India’s so-called active social media users towards Israel. Riddhish explained, “There was an urgency among these users to highlight the severe damage Israel had sustained. This is because no one had shown the ability to strike Israel in such a manner before. So, those who support Israel were also somewhat surprised.”
Rumor Scanner asked Ankita Deshkar if there was any specific influence from mainstream media behind this. Ankita believes that mainstream media isn’t responsible. Blaming the algorithms, Ankita said, “It [the algorithm] propagates emotional or divisive content more widely. As a result, a particular viewpoint dominates discussions on social media.”
However, Riddhish Dutta attributes it to the intertwined interests of both Iran and Israel with India. He stated, “While India’s strong relationship with Israel is well-known globally, India’s diplomatic and commercial ties with Iran are equally significant, especially due to the Chabahar Port, which India operates and uses for substantial import-export with Afghanistan and Russia. It’s likely for this reason that Indian media, unlike other times, couldn’t aggressively side with one country, and a significant impact of this was observed on social media as well.”
Far-Reaching Effects of One-Sided Propaganda
When asked about the reasons behind the biased spread of misinformation on social media in Bangladesh during the Iran-Israel conflict, Rajib Nandy, an Associate Professor at the Department of Communication and Journalism at Chittagong University, explained, “Behind this lies a strong role of cultural and religious bias, emotion, and political identity. Many people, without verifying neutral information, share content emotionally. Along with that, once a type of content spreads on Facebook’s algorithm, people tend to believe it as truth—what we call an ‘echo chamber’.” In this issue, mainstream media was often observed to act with similar bias.
According to Rajib Nandy, the media often adopts the same narrative influenced by social media, especially when it seems to be ‘public opinion’. As a result, this trend of one-sided propaganda often influences the media as well. He added that ordinary people can also be influenced by such media propaganda, stating, “Many people think—’If the media says it, it must be true’—such a belief also exists among people.”
With the declaration of a ceasefire, the conflict is currently not ongoing. However, this new media researcher was asked whether the spread of so much misinformation and biased behavior on an issue within a short period could have any far-reaching impact on people. Based on his observations, he identified at least four significant dimensional outcomes in the context of Bangladesh.
First, there’s the spread of cognitive bias and information cocoons. Rajib Nandy stated, “Repeated exposure to one-sided or agreeable information causes people’s thought processes to be influenced by ‘confirmation bias’. They only accept information that supports their pre-existing beliefs and ignore opposing views. This creates an ‘information cocoon’ or information confinement, which weakens rationality and analytical perspective.”
Second, biased information pushes people towards extremism. According to Rajib, in such a situation, people lose tolerance, intolerance towards opposing views increases, and society becomes divided on national or international issues. This can lead to social unrest, hate propaganda, and the rise of violent ideologies.
Third, the realities concerning war or conflict are extremely complex and multi-layered. However, due to the dominance of one-sided information, people become accustomed to viewing such events through a simplified ‘good versus evil’ lens. This, in the opinion of the academic, trivializes the complexities of diplomatic realities, geopolitics, and humanitarian crises.
Fourth, Rajib Nandy concluded, “When people are repeatedly influenced by misinformation or realize that the disseminated information does not match reality, then they become skeptical about the credibility of news media. This leads to a decrease in trust in mainstream media and creates confusion regarding freedom of expression—which is extremely dangerous for a democratic society.”
