Social media

August 28, 2025 | Ari Ben Am |

A Year of Meming Dangerously: Iranian Influence Operations Targeting Israel Since October 7

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July 1, 2025 | |

Iranian Hacker Group Threatens to Release Trove of Emails from Top Aides to Trump

Hackers Threaten Email Leaks From Trump Aides: Iranian hackers are threatening to leak private emails obtained from top aides to President Donald Trump, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure...

July 1, 2025 | Max Lesser |

FDD Connects Anti-Israel Network on Social Media to Iranian Website, Pro-Regime Actor

The “Iran Hayom” network posts anti-Israel propaganda, in Hebrew and English, across X, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, and YouTube. Its name is a play on the widely read Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom,...

June 26, 2025 | Max Lesser, Maria Riofrio

Iran-Based Psychological Operation Sets Saudi Aramco in Its Crosshairs

An Iran-based psychological operation that previously tried to demoralize Israelis via social media is now targeting Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company, Aramco, by calling for real-world attacks....

June 20, 2025 | Max Lesser, Maria Riofrio

FDD Uncovers Large Iranian Network Impersonating Israelis on Social Media

An Iranian social media operation is instructing its audience how to use AI and create fake accounts on X where they pose as Israelis and post demoralizing messages in Hebrew...

May 16, 2025 | Max Lesser |

FDD Uncovers Likely Chinese Intelligence Operation Targeting Recently Laid-Off U.S. Government Employees

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March 20, 2025 | |

Turkey Cracks Down on Demonstrators Protesting Arrest of Istanbul Mayor

Arrests of Demonstrators: Turkish authorities arrested more than 100 protesters after thousands of Turkish citizens demonstrated throughout March 19 and March 20 against the politically...

January 31, 2025 | |

Prominent Critic of Islam and Iran Murdered at Home in Sweden

Shot While Streaming on Social Media: A prominent free speech activist and critic of Islam known for staging public burnings of the Islamic holy book, the Quran, was murdered inside...

November 21, 2024 | Ari Ben Am |

How to Prevent Classified U.S. Intelligence from Ending up on Social Media

Once again, highly classified U.S. intelligence reports are circulating on social media. Last month, Telegram’s pro-Iran propaganda channel Middle East Spectator published two classified...

January 17, 2024 | Matt Pottinger |

Examining the Flow of U.S. Money into China’s Military Might

February 16, 2023 | Joe Truzman |

Social Media: An Important Tool Used By Palestinian Militant Groups

Between Gaza and the West Bank, there are approximately twenty active Palestinian militant organizations. Each group – to varying degrees – utilizes social media to spread its ideology, encourage attacks...

January 22, 2022 | Cleo Paskal |

‘China’s Media Warfare seeks global totalitarian thought control’

India and other countries would do well to study how China employs Media Warfare to try to undermine Taiwan’s democratic institutions, fracture national unity, demoralize the public and military, and create social instability in pursuit of its goal of annexing this sovereign country.

June 14, 2021 | Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Samuel Hodgson

Skinheads, Saints, and (National) Socialists

An Overview of the Transnational White Supremacist Extremist Movement

March 26, 2021 | Emanuele Ottolenghi |

Social Media Is an Intel Gold Mine. Why Aren’t Governments Using It?

“To platform or to deplatform” is the wrong debate.

January 31, 2019 | Daveed Gartenstein-Ross |

Midterm Assessment: Sunni Jihadism

November 6, 2018 | Annie Fixler, Frank Cilluffo

Evolving Menace

Iran’s Use of Cyber-Enabled Economic Warfare

October 27, 2015 | Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Radicalization: Social Media and the Rise of Terrorism

Download full testimony here...

May 7, 2015 | Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Jihad 2.0: Social Media in the Next Evolution of Terrorist Recruitment

Download full testimony here  Cha...

December 5, 2013 | FDD Policy Brief |

Saudi Clerics Endorse Jihadists in Syria

A group of 72 preachers and religious scholars from Saudi Arabia published a petition yesterday endorsing the Islamic Front in Syria.  The Islam...

May 28, 2013 | Benjamin Weinthal

Switzerland Bans Cleric for Anti-Semitic Rhetoric

The Swiss government extended its ban of the radical Saudi Islamist scholar Muhammad al-Arefe because of his anti-Semitic and misogynist ideologies. The website GulfNews.com report...