Fact check: 'Iranian' content farms reach millions

As tensions between the US and Iran escalated in November 2025, US President Donald Trump announced on a White House briefing that the conflict had effectively ended. This period of heightened public interest in the Iran war led to the rise of so-called content farms, online platforms that produce large amounts of cheap content quickly.

According to DW Fact Check, these content farms have accumulated millions of views online. An analysis by experts found recurring signs of content farm behavior in a growing network of accounts allegedly linked to Iran's military. These accounts, part of a broader ecosystem of pro-Iran content aggregators, have been promoted across multiple social media platforms.

Content farms generally do not produce high-quality journalism but rather aim to sway public opinion through cheap, formulaic posts. NewsGuard, an internet watchdog, identified 165 false claims about the Iran war that collectively garnered hundreds of millions of views, most of which were produced by non-Iranian state media. These accounts often use the Iranian flag as their profile picture and usernames containing "Iran Military."

While ownership cannot always be verified, they exhibit characteristics commonly associated with content farms. One such account, "Iran Military Media," has built a substantial following across various platforms, generating over 150 million views and 3.6 million likes. It posts multiple times daily, primarily featuring AI-generated or AI-enhanced videos and employing the "BREAKING" format.

This network, replicated on Facebook in multiple languages, is a central part of what experts describe as a "soft war" strategy outlined by the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.