7/Many thanks to the authors- @fittarelli.com, @rondeibert.bsky.social @mmichae1sen.bsky.social, Maia, and Darren for enriching the field with this report and findings!

6/Repression at home disempowers, while external actors weaponise that disempowerment. This cruel double bind shows the urgent need to address the weaponisation of synthetic media in conflict.

5/What strikes me most: Iran’s own repression creates the conditions for this. Decades of censorship and propaganda breed nihilism and distrust, leaving citizens vulnerable to synthetic manipulation.

4/This builds on what @samgregory.bsky.social and I wrote about the Iran–Israel war as a testing ground for AI propaganda. carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

3/ @citizenlab.ca stops short of certainty, but concludes: “The hypothesis most consistent with the available evidence is that the Israeli government – directly or through a contracting firm – conducted the operation.”

2/These deepfakes falsely attributed songs to Shervin Hajipour, Toomaj Salehi and Mehdi Yarahi, twisting authentic voices of Iranian pain and frustration into calls for uprising aligned with Israel’s messaging.

Also, @haaretzcom.bsky.social @themarkup.org has an exclusive companion report here, authored by Gur Megido and Omer Benjakob 👇

www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

Ty

Can you share a link for this? For Noland Arbaugh’s neuralink implant I could only find positive coverage going back to June 2025.

Thank you for the kind words @loreleilee.bsky.social 🙏