Microsoft says Iran is using fake news sites to influence 2024 election

Groups connected to the Iranian government are ramping up their efforts to interfere with voters’ decision-making in the 2024 presidential election by targeting far-left and far-right individuals with fake news websites, a new report from Microsoft Threat Analysis Center claims.

Among those fake news websites is a left-leaning one called Nio Thinker, launched in October 2023, that appealed to potential liberal voters by concentrating on the Israel-Hamas war and mocking former president Donald Trump.

A right-leaning one called Savannah Time has published content associated with conservative hot-button issues like gender-reassignment surgery and other LGBT+ issues, the report says.

The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center claims the group behind the websites has used artificial intelligence to “plagiarize at least some content” from U.S. publications. They say it is part of a broader campaign to drive an ideological rift in the country.

As November draws closer, groups like the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center are monitoring influence operations from specific groups around the world and are keeping a closer eye on the tactics they implore to attempt to influence the outcome of the election.

“Iranian cyber-enabled influence operations have been a consistent feature of at least the last three US election cycles,” the report, published on Friday, says.

The Microsoft Threat Analysis Team says in addition to the fake news websites, another Iranian group is “setting itself up for activities that are even more extreme” through intimidation or inciting violence against political groups or people.

This is part of a larger effort to create chaos and undermine authorities, ultimately exploiting voters to doubt the integrity of the election process.

A third group, connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, sent a presidential campaign official a phishing email from the compromised email of a former senior adviser. That group also attempted to log into an account belonging to a former presidential candidate.

Microsoft Threat Analysis Center says these hacking attempts may be part of a larger goal to gain intelligence on political campaigns to influence future elections.

A fourth group successfully compromised an account from a “county-level government employee in a swing state.” But it is unclear what the ultimate goal of that was.

The new report aligns with similar reports from U.S. officials in June who said Iranian actors were attempting to escalate tensions within the U.S.

The Microsoft Threat Analysis Team is warning voters, officials, candidates and more to be aware of the influence campaigns and protect themselves from misinformation or hacking attempts.

“Our goal in releasing these reports is to underscore the importance of combating election deepfakes and promoting education and learning about possible foreign interference,” Clint Watts, general manager of the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center said in a press release.