Iranian Bot Network Linked to Scottish Independence Campaign Goes Silent

Suspected Iranian Bots Posing as Scottish Independence Activists Go Silent During Internet Shutdown

Pro-Scottish independence accounts on X (formerly Twitter) have mysteriously gone offline coinciding with Iran’s internet shutdown, leading security experts to believe they were part of a coordinated Iranian influence operation targeting British politics, The Telegraph reported Monday.

The disappearance of these accounts has raised significant concerns about foreign interference in domestic British debates, particularly around the sensitive issue of Scottish independence.

One prominent account called “Fiona,” which described itself as “passionate about Scotland’s independence & our right to self-determination,” had been actively spreading alarming and false information before going silent. The account claimed the British pound was in “freefall” with “international markets dumping UK assets as images of tanks in Edinburgh go viral,” none of which was true.

The same account fabricated claims that “protesters have seized Balmoral Estate” with people chanting “No more castles while people freeze.” An investigation by The Jerusalem Post confirmed the account has since been suspended by X.

Other suspicious accounts linked to Iranian activity spread equally outlandish assertions, including claims that “huge tracts of the Highlands are being turned into a weapons lab” and that the British Army was deploying tanks down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile in what was characterized as a “coup.”

Cybersecurity analysis by Israeli firm Cyabra found approximately 26% of thousands of scanned X users could be fake, according to The Telegraph. The analysis revealed a telling pattern: the accounts that went dark following Iran’s internet shutdown also disappeared during the Israel-Iran conflict in June – providing compelling technical evidence linking them to Iranian operators.

The timing of these accounts going offline directly correlates with Tehran’s decision to cut internet access across Iran, which has been implemented during periods of domestic unrest or international tensions to limit information flow both into and out of the country.

Conservative politicians have responded forcefully to the revelations. Former British security minister Tom Tugendhat commented specifically about the “Fiona” account: “She’s either out protesting or murdering her fellow citizens. Given she’s a mouthpiece for the murderers in Tehran, I guess she’s killing innocents.”

Scottish Parliament member Stephen Kerr posted a video to X calling on Westminster to investigate the accounts. Standing symbolically in front of a statue of Scottish independence figure Robert the Bruce, Kerr directly addressed potential Iranian operatives: “We all know that cybernats are the worst people on social media for peddling fake information and sowing the seeds of sectarian division. Now we know that many of them aren’t from Scotland at all, but from Iran.”

Kerr questioned why Iranian authorities would be interested in promoting Scottish nationalism and why independence supporters weren’t concerned about “an evil regime infiltrating our democracy.”

The discovery highlights growing concerns about foreign influence operations on social media platforms. Iran has increasingly been identified as a significant actor in disinformation campaigns targeting Western democracies, alongside Russia and China. These operations typically exploit existing political divisions and contentious issues, such as Scottish independence, to create confusion and amplify societal tensions.

Security experts have long warned that social media platforms remain vulnerable to coordinated influence operations despite increased efforts to identify and remove inauthentic accounts. The pattern of these accounts going offline during Iranian internet shutdowns provides a rare concrete connection between suspicious social media activity and state-sponsored information operations.

British authorities have yet to announce formal action in response to these revelations, but pressure is building for a more robust response to foreign interference in domestic politics as the Scottish independence debate continues to be a significant fault line in British politics.