FBI Leads Seizure of Dozens of US Website Domains Linked to Iran in Massive Crackdown on Disinformation

According to CNN’s Evan Perez, the United States government has taken action against dozens of U.S. website domains that have been linked to Iran, in what seems to be a strategy to combat the spread of disinformation.

Perez spoke to a U.S. national security official who confirmed the U.S. government’s motive behind the seizure as a means to deal with disinformation coming directly from these Iranian-run sources. Of the domains seized, the most prominent being Iranian state-run Press TV, a news outlet written in English.

Press TV has responded to U.S. government actions in a tweet below:

Press TV did not explicitly mention whether or not their website was seized “in what seems to be a coordinated action” by the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI, yet tweeted a photo with the seizure warrant issued. Other Iranian officials are confirming these events and tweeting responses, in which they ironically claim an assault on the free press by the U.S. government.

Perez stated on air with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell, that it is not yet confirmed the actual number of websites affected, but is optimistic there will be more information on this coming from the DOJ this afternoon.

This comes as a continuation of October 2020 efforts by the U.S. government to curb rampantly spreading disinformation coming out of Iran. In a similar fashion just a few months prior, dozens of sites were taken down that were linked to Iranian media representing the news inaccurately.

You can watch above, via CNN.

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