Iraqi CSOs Respond to Surge in Harmful Online Content with Coordinated Monitoring Initiative
Since the escalation of the regional war involving Iran in late February, Iraq’s digital information environment has experienced a significant surge in harmful online narratives, hate speech, disinformation campaigns, and targeted harassment across social media platforms. As soon as the conflict started, media actors, academics and CSOs quickly mobilized to set up a team to monitor the situation online, paying special attention to the trends in disinformation, hate speech, and threats and attacks against journalists.
These organizations leading the monitoring of social media, are part of the coalition of organizations that UNESCO has been supporting and equipping with key competencies on Freedom of Expression, disinformation and hate speech online as part of the Social Media 4 Peace Project. This initiative, which is supported by the European Union is working with national stakeholders in Iraq to strengthen the resilience to online harms while protecting freedom of expression and access to information.
Five organizations from the coalition of CSOs took the lead in the monitoring of content online during this period of crisis to decipher what is driving online harmful content, what patterns can be identified, and what recommendations can be made. These organisations include: ANAT for Media Development, Iraqi Digital Reporting Platform for Female Journalists, Journalists Home (KRI), Iraqi Centre for Strategic Analytics, and Media Monitoring Centre. In less than a month, from 5 to 29 March 2026, the team monitored thousands of posts in social media, and closely studied and analysed 713 cases of harmful online content, coming primarily from Facebook.
The research team relied on a combined approach using manual digital observation, keyword-based tracking, and reports received from impacted users. A dedicated platform was established to receive reports, integrated within the coalition’s website.
The monitoring process revealed three major trends that have emerged in Iraq over this period. The first is an intensification of hate speech, incitement, and accusations of treason. Second, discourse around the war has shifted from treating it as an external event to wielding it as a tool for the mobilization of domestic actors across the whole political and social spectrum. The monitoring team concluded based on the content analysed, that Iraqi digital spaces no longer just follow regional events, they turn them inward, using them to fuel debates about domestic issues such as: who controls weapons, what role the United States plays, how much power armed groups should have, the future of political balances in Iraq, historical memory and religious themes. The third trend, identified by the organizations conducting the monitoring, point at mounting evidence of networked coordination in digital campaigns such as repeated phrasing across different posts and accounts, synchronized timing in the released of content, and the recycling of clips, allegations, and hashtags. While these patterns stop short of proving centralized command, they point strongly to organized, or at minimum semi-organized, influence operations.
In response to these worrying trends, several recommendations have been brought forward by the organizations of the coalition. First, given the scale and the speed of escalation observed, there is a need to move toward a more responsive and real-time monitoring model. The data clearly shows an increase in the targeting of journalists, analysts, and content creators, requiring rapid and practical protection mechanisms. Given the rise of disinformation and AI-generated content, verification capacity must be scaled and decentralized. The findings also confirm that harmful content is amplified not only by producers but also by audience behaviour and emotional engagement, pointing to the critical need to step up in Media and Information Literacy training efforts. Lastly, the dataset confirms that women face disproportionate and targeted digital violence, requiring focused intervention addressing Technology Facilitated Gender Based Violence.
UNESCO will continue supporting local actors in addressing these challenges through expanded capacity-building initiatives on Media and Information Literacy (MIL), safety training for content creators and journalists, and stronger support to enhance fact-checking capacities. These activities are part of the Social Media 4 Peace project, which has been implemented in Iraq since 2025.
One of SM4P’s core objectives is to strengthen the capacity of local actors to collectively address the challenges of harmful online content through evidence-based methods grounded in human rights principles. In Iraq, SM4P has brought together a coalition of local organizations and is supporting them in advancing a rights-based approach to digital platform governance.
This coalition-based approach is particularly valuable, as local partners bring deep understanding of cultural nuances, political contexts, and community dynamics. Iraq joins similar initiatives supported by SM4P in Indonesia, Kenya, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, South Africa, and Kyrgyzstan. This work is funded by the European Union, who is a key partner of UNESCO in advancing rights-based governance of digital platforms with a multistakeholder approach.
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