China, Iran Join Russia in Spreading Disinformation About LA Immigration Protests: Report

China and Iran are ramping up disinformation efforts around the recent immigration protests in Los Angeles, joining a broader wave of false narratives and conspiracy theories, researchers at NewsGuard reported Friday.

The disinformation watchdog found that state-affiliated media from Russia, China, and Iran have published approximately 10,000 posts and articles framing the protests as signs of an impending U.S. collapse. The foreign actors are capitalizing on deep political divisions, leveraging the unrest as an opportunity for information warfare.

Pro-China accounts on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Douyin, and Weibo spread unfounded claims that California was preparing to secede from the U.S. over disputes between former President Donald Trump and Governor Gavin Newsom. Meanwhile, Iranian state media falsely reported that renowned Iranian-American singer Andy Madadian had been detained by the National Guard—an allegation the artist publicly denied. “I am fine. Please don’t believe these rumors,” he said.

Russian media outlets and pro-Kremlin influencers pushed right-wing conspiracy theories, including the baseless claim that the Mexican government was fueling anti-Trump demonstrations in California.

“These demonstrations are unfolding at the intersection of multiple vulnerabilities,” said McKenzie Sadeghi, a researcher at NewsGuard. She cited eroded trust in institutions, the viral spread of false claims via AI chatbots, rising political polarization, and reduced content moderation on major platforms as key enablers.

“What’s remarkable,” Sadeghi added, “is the coordinated nature of the messaging. While Russia, China, and Iran usually promote different narratives, this time their efforts appear unusually synchronized.”

The foreign campaigns have been compounded by domestic disinformation. Right-wing influencers circulated misleading photos of brick piles, claiming they were staged weapons for protesters. However, AFP fact-checkers debunked the images: one originated from a Malaysian hardware site, and the other was taken near a construction site in New Jersey.

The Social Media Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University highlighted the tactic as a recurring hoax. “The old ‘pallets of bricks’ myth resurfaces with every major protest. It’s part of a persistent narrative aimed at delegitimizing public dissent,” the group wrote on Bluesky.

The growing alignment of foreign and domestic disinformation campaigns underscores the fragility of public trust and the increasing vulnerability of U.S. discourse to coordinated manipulation.