UK Defence Journal has revealed that thousands of pro-Scottish independence commenters fell silent all at once and in the immediate aftermath of an Israeli strike on an Iranian cyber infrastructure:

On 12 June 2025, dozens of anonymous X (formerly Twitter) accounts advocating Scottish independence abruptly went silent. Many had posted hundreds of times per week, often using pro-independence slogans, anti-UK messaging, and identity cues like “NHS nurse” or “Glaswegian socialist.”

Their sudden disappearance coincided with a major Israeli airstrike campaign against Iranian military and cyber infrastructure. Within days, Iran had suffered severe power outages, fuel shortages, and an internet blackout affecting 95 percent of national connectivity.

... What emerges is a picture of a state actor, Tehran, deliberately using the Scottish independence issue to weaken its adversary by amplifying internal division.

... Iranian objectives

Iran’s strategy is asymmetric. Lacking the economic leverage or conventional military reach of its Western adversaries, it has turned to covert online influence as a low-cost, high-impact tool for shaping perceptions and political fault lines abroad. Within this broader playbook, the UK has long been a target. Tehran sees Britain as a historic antagonist associated with colonial exploitation and perceived meddling in Middle Eastern affairs. Weakening the UK’s internal cohesion fits into Iran’s strategic objectives, and Scottish independence provides a compelling wedge issue.

... The accounts were designed to be persuasive by appearing local, consistent, and emotionally resonant. Many used AI-generated profile pictures. Their language mimicked that of real users, and their timing matched major political news cycles. These tactics enabled what researchers call narrative laundering, where external influence is disguised within what appears to be organic public sentiment.

Professor Darren Linvill, one of the lead researchers on the project, said the goal was not necessarily to convince but to create the impression that support for independence was more widespread than it really was. “Anyone in sales will tell you the bandwagon fallacy is a powerful tool,” he said. This form of amplification does not have to shift public opinion directly to be effective. It simply reshapes the perceived size and momentum of a movement.

Real users frequently engaged with the network’s content. Tweets from these fake accounts received hundreds of thousands of retweets, likes, and comments. Many followers were unaware of the accounts’ origins. Over time, this helped create a feedback loop in which synthetic content was treated as legitimate, and fringe narratives gained disproportionate visibility.

Thread warfare is hardly something we are unaccustomed to ourselves, of course.  But we don’t have state sponsorship.  We have the intelligence community actively working against us, as well as the whole of the legal system and prison system should we err.  We know that part of that work involves disinfo activism from a specialist unit of the British Army.  It does feel, though, that the state is fighting a losing battle in trying to keep the lid on our political dissent.

As for Tehran, it will be back in business, no doubt - and it’s obviously not alone.  If it could mount such an effort how much greater in scale must be such activity from Moscow (which we can see daily), or China, India, and Pakistan (which we generally can’t)?  Israel too, of course.