During Operation Roaring Lion, which began on February 28, 2026, Iran orchestrated a sophisticated disinformation campaign on WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, posing as extreme right-wing Israeli groups or local news channels. Throughout the first few weeks of the conflict, 145 million views were generated over tens of thousands of fake and unauthenticated social media accounts (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/28/business/iran-propaganda-war-ai.html).

The IRGC encouraged violent gatherings outside hospitals by spreading false claims about "terrorists" being hospitalized throughout Israel, as well as demoralizing Israeli women and collecting data from viewers. Furthermore, key tactics used by Iran included AI-generated and doctored imagery, exploitation of tragic incidents, psychological warfare and fabrications, as well as proxy and bot infrastructure (https://www.facebook.com/bbcindia/videos/since-the-start-of-the-us-israel-war-with-iran-false-claims-that-israeli-prime-m/891587387049357/).

Overall, the significance of these campaigns lies in Iran's ability to exploit societal divisions, undermine trust in institutions, and create confusion during a period of conflict.