The Iranian government is pushing content online intended to influence the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, Microsoft announced recently.

The company found that Iranian actors had “laid the groundwork for influence campaigns on trending election-related topics” and began to “activate these campaigns in an apparent effort to stir up controversy or sway voters ... (and) designed to gain intelligence on political campaigns and help enable them to influence the elections in the future.”

The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center published its findings in a Microsoft Threat Intelligence Report last week. Here’s what we know.

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Iran has attacked both Trump and Harris campaigns

According to the report, these actors are targeting both major presidential campaigns using phishing emails and fake news sites. One group connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps contacted a campaign official using the compromised email address of a former senior adviser with a spear-phishing email containing a fake link that would give the group access to the campaign official’s online activity.

Another group has launched and maintained covert news sites that target voters across the political spectrum and discuss issues pertaining to the candidates, LGBTQ+ rights and the Israel-Hamas conflict. This effort has been in progress since 2020, possibly earlier, and produces polarizing messages. Articles are compiled using AI tools that support some plagiarizing from other content sources and SEO plug-ins that help write headlines to drive search traffic to the fake sites.

One recent example, articles were posted to the website “Nio Thinker” beginning in October 2023 targeting liberal audiences. Articles on the site called former President Donald Trump an “opioid-pilled elephant in the MAGA china shop” and a “raving mad litigiosaur.” It initially published material about the Israel-Hamas conflict and has made the shift to covering the U.S. election in the lead up to November.

The Savannah Time, another fake site, called itself a “trusted source for conservative news in the vibrant city of Savannah.”

Microsoft hasn’t noted any substantial social media amplification of these sites.

According to The Associated Press, the Iranian government is also utilizing social media to encourage protests as people pose as activists online and provide financial support to protest organizers ahead of the election. These efforts are intended to influence the public’s trust in democratic institutions, AP reported.

Iran is following Russia’s example

Though the Iranian government’s actions are concerning, AP reported that Russia is still the biggest threat to election security — and Iran has taken a page out of their playbook. Officials from various government agencies, including the FBI and Office for the Director of National Intelligence told reporters that the Russian government is already working to spread disinformation regarding the presidential election.

One of Russia’s tactics includes laundering information through news sites, which Iranian actors are mirroring in their use of covert news sites. Russian actors also depend on American influencers to spread their talking points to the public, AP noted.

Evidence in the Microsoft report indicates that Russia is continuing to interfere in the election to boost Trump. Groups have pushed fake stories about scandals that didn’t happen, disinformation about immigration and Ukraine, and calls for violence against immigrants in the U.S.

The U.S. and Iranian governments respond

The White House said in a statement it condemned, “any foreign government or entity who attempts to interfere in our electoral process or seeks to undermine confidence in our democratic institutions,” per NewsNation.

Sen. Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, described the U.S. position this year as being “in the bull’s-eye of bad actors across the globe,” AP reported.

An official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said, “The American public should know that content that they read online — especially on social media — could be foreign propaganda, even if it appears to be coming from fellow Americans or originating in the United States,” per AP.

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In a statement, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said, “Iran is becoming increasingly aggressive in their foreign influence efforts, seeking to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions.”

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“Americans who are being targeted by this Iranian campaign may not be aware that they are interacting with or receiving support from a foreign government,” Haines also said.

According to Al Jazeera, an Iranian official at the U.N. denied claims of Iran’s involvement in election interference.

“The Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election,” the official said in an email.

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