Report Finds Foreign Accounts Drove Anti–Operation Epic Fury Messaging on X

A new analysis by private firm Argyle Consulting Group of X activity during the first week of Operation Epic Fury finds that foreign-based accounts, often posing as Americans, generated most of the most-viral posts criticizing the U.S.‑led Iran campaign and framing it as a betrayal of MAGA or a war fought "on behalf of Israel." Examining 100 posts with more than 10,000 shares between Feb. 28 and March 7, Argyle says 60% of the most viral content mentioning "Iran" came from outside the U.S., with foreign accounts producing about 155.6 million views versus 93.4 million from domestic users in the sample, and every foreign-based post in the dataset was negative about the operation. CEO Eran Vasker told Fox News Digital the messages were written in fluent U.S. political language and "look very American," making them "almost impossible" for typical users to spot as foreign. JP Castellanos of Binary Defense, a former U.S. Central Command cyber defender, said this narrative campaign is unfolding alongside broader pro‑Iran cyber activity, including doxing efforts and AI‑generated videos, and that much of the online noise around claimed hacks appears designed to shape perceptions rather than reflect confirmed cyber incidents. The findings feed growing concern that hostile states and aligned actors are covertly steering U.S. online debates over Israel and Iran, even as ordinary Americans and political factions argue over the war believing they are hearing mostly domestic voices.