Editor’s note: Fact Hunter is a fact-checking brand dedicated to tracking and verifying public claims and aims to counter AI-era misinformation’s pernicious impact. The following analysis examines how false narratives spread during the recent Israel-Iran conflict, blending AI manipulation with emotional triggers.
The 12-day Israel-Iran conflict that erupted earlier this month saw rampant misinformation spread online. Fact Hunter’s investigation examined multiple reports, cross-referenced fact-checking tools, and analyzed public sentiment from over 10,000 social media comments across platforms including X, Bluesky, YouTube and Reddit.
This took a hybrid approach, utilizing large language models to identify topics and emerging narratives before human analysts verified and contextualized these findings with emotion through qualitative assessment. This AI-human collaborative methodology revealed gaps between truth and popular belief during the hostilities.
Early conflict: misrepresented military intentions
Following Israel’s surprise air raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 13, 2025, misinformation about the combatants’ military capabilities and intentions spread online, with exaggerated claims and distorted quotes from political statements.
A manipulated clip of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, falsely edited to include threats against Pakistan, was a case in point of how actual footage can be weaponized during a conflict – a recurring misinformation tactic that requires a swift response.
Early discussions were largely neutral, based on 1,773 comments analyzed, and focused on factual updates (e.g., “Iran missile launch confirmed”).
Escalation: fabricated combat narratives
As the conflict intensified, misinformation tactics evolved to exaggerate military outcomes and fabricate dramatic events, with both Israeli and Iranian narratives employing similar manipulation techniques.
Israel’s offensive: misrepresented attacks
Old videos from previous Israel-Iran clashes and even Russia-Ukraine conflict footage were falsely touted as current. DW and BBC Verify confirmed these were deliberate misattributions designed to inflame tensions.
Iran’s retaliation: AI-generated attacks
When it came to Iran’s retaliation, old videos were recycled and mislabeled. We verified a typical case and confirmed that it is false. A 2018 U.S. military jet crash video was rebranded as an Israeli F-35 destroyed by Iran. Through reverse image search and a dive into media archives, as well as checking information on any airspace shutdowns, we determined the case was presented out of context.
AI-generated content featured prominently in misinformation efforts about Iran’s retaliation. Fact Hunter verified two such cases: a fabricated video of an attack on Tel Aviv and a manipulated photo falsely claiming to show an Israeli plane downed by Iran.
Our analysis found that some original sources clearly labeled the content as AI-generated, but this information was omitted during dissemination. Flaws and irregularities spotted in the frames included, but were not limited to, unnatural visual effects, inconsistent details and unrealistic proportions of objects.
The proliferation of increasingly sophisticated synthetic content underscores the ever-growing need for media literacy and public vigilance in assessing material that may be AI-generated or manipulated.
The kinetic escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict also saw a corresponding escalation in misinformation, with two notable developments:
The recycling of historical footage continued to pose verification challenges.
AI-generated content emerged as a widely used tool for fabricating scenarios.
Through our data analysis, we found that such misinformation had the following effect on public perception:
Negative sentiment spiked (5,926 comments) around these events, with terms like “missile” (1,403 mentions) and “nuclear” (1,184) dominating discussions.
Neutral comments (1,773) often sought verification, reflecting distrust in unverified claims.
How Fact Hunter tackles wartime misinformation
The Israel-Iran conflict exposed three critical challenges in fighting fake news:
The race against time: False claims spread faster than it takes to verify sources and claims. Viral posts had already reached a massive audience before corrections went live.
Emotion over truth: Dramatic AI-generated videos of explosions and attacks prove that sensational content spreads wider, whether real or not.
Missing the big picture: While debunking individual claims, broader context about regional players and motivations often got overlooked.
Conclusion: Truth is the casualty of war
Databases of social media comments reveal crucial insights into public mood:
Audiences sought balance: Neutral comments (1,773) outweighed positive ones (1,103), yet negativity (5,926) dominated humanitarian and U.S.-related discussions.
Misinformation thrived on fear: War-related terms like “nuclear” and “missile” amplified anxiety, while AI content exploited visual trust.
Final note: Fact-checking must evolve to address both viral lies and audience concerns about civilians in harm’s way and geopolitical developments (as seen in comment clusters). Insights such as these can sketch a blueprint for more responsive verification.
Fake news in times of conflict has the destructive power to incite emotions and cause mass panic. As a fact-checking brand, Fact Hunter will continue its mission to track relevant information, conduct necessary verification, and help the public sort through lies to get to the truth. On this basis, we strive to provide comprehensive verification methods and models, cultivate media literacy in audiences, and adhere to the principles of objectivity and neutral reporting of events to ensure the public’s right to access information.
Have a questionable video or claim? Submit it to Fact Hunter’s investigation team at [email protected].
