Activists spent years preparing for a communications blackout in Iran, smuggling in Starlink satellite internet systems and making digital shutdowns harder for the authorities to enforce.
The shutdown of online discourse within Iran has allowed both the government and its critics to flood social media outside the country with disinformation campaigns and fake images.
A video from Ken Paxton, a Republican primary challenger to Senator John Cornyn of Texas, depicted A.I.-generated imagery of the senator twirling with Jasmine Crockett, a Democratic Senate candidate.