Syria’s Weekend Violence Brings Wave of Disinformation to Digital Battlefield

“They’re burning the village now,” one Syrian user reported on Facebook.

“Which village?” another asked.

“Please, we want the shooting to stop so we can bury the bodies that are filling up the streets,” somebody else from Jableh, a town near the coastal city of Latakia, wrote as violence that claimed approximately 800 lives erupted over the weekend.

“I am in Jableh. Nothing is wrong. There’s no shooting,” another man wrote, adding to the confusion.

After supporters of ousted President Bashar Assad launched attacks on the new Syrian security forces late last week, Syria experienced its worst wave of violence since Assad’s fall in early December. By Monday, the situation had largely stabilized, but the weekend also marked Syria’s most severe surge of disinformation since the regime change.

“We observed a significant surge,” Zouhir al-Shimale, a researcher and communications manager for Syrian fact-checking organization Verify-Sy, told DW. “Coordination among malicious online actors reached its highest level since Syria’s liberation.”

During the past week, disinformation campaigns were directly linked to on-the-ground violence. “In chat rooms and private direct messages, malicious actors urged Alawites and other minorities to flee, warning of an imminent genocide while encouraging men to take up arms and attack government posts,” al-Shimale explained.

Verify-Sy also documented increased use of generative artificial intelligence to manipulate footage and alter voices, producing “highly provocative and graphic content” designed to inflame tensions.

While some images and videos depicting war crimes were authentic, others were historical footage showing Assad regime forces committing atrocities years ago. Syrian users recognized some materials from previous viewing. In several instances, individuals reported as murdered later appeared online, denying their deaths and sometimes stating they weren’t even in Syria.

Information Vacuum Creates Fertile Ground

The disinformation surrounding Syria’s recent violence has been particularly overwhelming for several critical reasons.

In Syria, “social media serves as a crucial information source amid the absence of formal or reliable, independent media,” explains Noura Aljizawi, a Syrian activist and senior researcher at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab. She points to a “lack of official communication from the interim government, which leaves the community grappling with uncertainty and vulnerability.”

The information landscape is further complicated by conflicting narratives from different Syrian communities. Pro-Assad loyalists have deployed disinformation to widen sectarian divisions and discourage reconciliation with the new government. Conversely, many former revolutionaries are so eager to believe in the new administration that some quickly dismissed reports of crimes committed by new security forces as “fake news.”

Responding to the crisis, the Syrian government has announced plans to establish an independent commission to investigate potential war crimes by all parties and has already made two arrests.

“The surge in disinformation and hate speech online is both fueling the violence and deepening divisions,” said Razan Rashidi, director of UK-based advocacy organization The Syria Campaign. “Disinformation has become so bad that the truth is lost and denial of crimes becomes commonplace. People are afraid to speak in solidarity with victims or to challenge the interim government for fear of the backlash they will receive on social media.”

Foreign Actors Amplify the Problem

External actors pursuing their own agendas have significantly contributed to the disinformation crisis, with most campaigns targeting the new Syrian government.

Both Aljizawi and Verify-Sy have identified Iran and Iranian proxy networks in Iraq and Lebanon as major players in the disinformation landscape. This comes as the new Syrian government has expelled Iranian forces that had supported the Assad regime.

Russia and Israel have also participated in disinformation campaigns against the new government, according to experts. Meanwhile, right-wing commentators in the United States have leveraged social media to promote Islamophobic narratives, accusing the new Syrian leadership, which includes individuals with past connections to Islamist groups, of war crimes.

“This was evident when figures like Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson amplified outright disinformation about Syria, leveraging X’s network to promote these narratives,” al-Shimale noted. This high-profile amplification represents a dangerous new development, as “it shapes public discourse, pressures policymakers, and influences international perceptions of Syria’s transition.”

Inside the Disinformation Machine

DW contacted several social media users who presented themselves as non-Syrian while posting debunked information. One user, claiming to be based in southern Iraq, responded and shared insights into the operation under condition of anonymity.

The user revealed they work under instructions from the media operations room run by Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) – militias originally formed by Shiite Muslim communities to combat ISIS but now incorporated into Iraq’s state security apparatus. Some PMF groups maintain close ties with Iran and are considered part of the same Iran-supported regional network as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

“They give me the posts, and I publish,” the social media user told DW. “I trust my leadership very much, and they are the ones who verify the news.” The person disclosed they receive between $20 and $30 per post, with well-known influencers potentially earning over $100 for a single post.

Many social media operatives in this network are reportedly “unemployed, or disabled as a result of fighting, or women whose husbands died in the war.” While financial incentives drive participation, sectarian motivations also play a role. The Iraq-based user, a Shiite Muslim, expressed viewing all Sunni Muslims, including those in Syria, as enemies and opponents of “Iran, which is the savior of this region.”

As Syria attempts to navigate its post-Assad reality, the battle for truth continues to rage alongside physical conflicts, with both domestic and international actors wielding disinformation as a weapon to shape the country’s uncertain future.