Icon: enlarge
Shutdown banner on the website "usjournal.net" which, according to US investigators, is said to have spread Iranian propaganda
Photo: FBI / US Department of Justice
The US has taken 92 Internet addresses offline, which, according to investigators, are said to have been operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard or on their behalf.
At first glance, four of the pages looked like regular news websites dealing with international topics such as the conflicts in Syria or over Palestine.
On the pages, mixed with other news items, there were often articles that corresponded to Iran's foreign policy line.
Whoever visits the site now only sees banners from the Justice Department and the FBI with the statement: "This website has been confiscated."
The blocking notice is displayed to visitors from all over the world, regardless of whether they are from the USA or Germany.
Such banners are usually also placed in operations against darknet black markets or other cybercrime portals.
The sites with names like "newsstand7.com", "usjournal.net", "usjournal.us" and "twtoday.net" are part of an international disinformation campaign, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.
They were operated to influence the domestic and foreign policy of the United States.
The blocked sites also include websites that were used to spread Iranian propaganda in Western Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
The operators of the sites apparently disguised their clients
The pages were not switched off because of the content, but because the operators apparently concealed their actual identity.
The ministry said that the duties of the US registration law for foreign representatives have not been met.
The law requires individuals who are politically active in the United States on behalf of foreign governments to disclose this activity.
The operators of the websites apparently did not reveal that they were acting on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
The US government will continue to use all of its "resources to prevent the Iranian government from using US companies and social media to spread covert propaganda" and "sowing discord," said US Attorney General John Demers on Wednesday.
The websites were identified first with data from Google and then with the support of Twitter and Facebook, as the investigators announced.
Icon: The mirror
hpp / afp