Brief Analysis
China, Russia, and Iran are currently exploiting COVID-19 to conduct information warfare, specifically targeting the Middle East.
In January 2020, Russia’s state-owned Sputnik news agency published
an article alleging that the then-emerging COVID-19 virus was “probably made in NATO labs.” Since then, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM)’s Information Operations Division the U.S. Department of Defense’s flagship organization for countering propaganda and disinformation has noticed an onslaught of pandemic-related propaganda and disinformation from Russian, Iranian, and Chinese sources. Generally, these propaganda efforts have used the COVID-19 pandemic to target the United States and its partners. And while this disinformation campaign has rolled out on a global scale, it has focused heavily on the Middle East.
United-states
Al-manar
Al-udaydah
Yemen
New-york
Iraq
Alexandria
Al-iskandariyah
Egypt
Iran
Washington
Lebanon