The European Union (EU) has taken action against Iranian Revolutionary Guards propaganda online, the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) announced today.
Led by Europol's EU Internet Reporting Unit (EU IRU), the operation aimed to identify and disrupt the Revolutionary Guard's activities in spreading propaganda, recruiting supporters, and raising funds.
Europol states that 16 EU countries, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine and the United States of America (USA), participated in the operation.
"Between February 13 and April 28, the countries' authorities participated in synchronized phases, under the coordination of Europol, in gathering intelligence, cross-checking targets and conducting joint reports to online platforms," the statement said.
Europol adds that Revolutionary Guard content was disseminated on social media and streaming services, blogging sites and standalone websites.
"Propaganda was identified in several languages, including Arabic, Indonesian, English, French, Persian and Spanish. The material ranged from speeches that combine narratives of religious martyrdom with strong political messages, to artificial intelligence-generated videos that glorify the Revolutionary Guard and call for revenge against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei," the statement said.
Europol said the interconnection of multilingual websites linked to the Garda provided important insight into the online architecture of the propaganda network, which allowed it to monitor and remove statements and videos produced by Iranian-backed groups, including Hezbollah, Ansar Allah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Right Movement.
Investigators identified a total of 14.200 links related to Revolutionary Guard activities.
"The main social media account of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which boasts over 150.000 followers, has been blocked in the EU following this action, and thousands of other links on several platforms have been removed or are in the process of being investigated and removed," Europol said.
The statement said that cryptocurrency transactions were also discovered to maintain and enhance online operations, allowing the Revolutionary Guard to bypass normal financial controls.
Europol states that the action was carried out as a form of support to EU countries in the online fight against terrorist activities.
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