The same journalist also recounted when a fake weblog published under his name compiled his actual articles and writings for months only to eventually publish a false statement in which he allegedly regretted having interviewed members of an armed separatist group, which would have contradicted the policies of the media organization. Shortly after, in one of his live programs, a caller from Iran even brought up the blog to criticize the editor. Iranian state media devote persistent attention to well-known journalists and human rights defenders abroad, portraying them as liars, questioning their loyalty, and accusing them of working for foreign powers. False reports about sexual relations and rape among outside journalists are also common. These smear campaigns aim to undermine the credibility of dissidents and critics from abroad, targeting their relationship with domestic audiences. The campaigns are also used as a form of psychological pressure: the sister of prominent women rights activist Masih Alinejad, for instance, was coerced by Iranian authorities to publicly disown Alinejad on state television.65 Although Iranian interviewees questioned whether these methods had the desired effect of silencing diaspora activists, they agreed that slander and lies were a form of harassment sapping their focus and energy. As an Iranian journalist explained: “They create a playing field and you are forced to play along their rules. They attack and you have to defend yourself. You spend time for nothing. Only responding to their lies. You spent time that you could have used for writing articles.” 66 In addition to attacks in official and state-affiliated media, diaspora activists experience intimidation and harassment on social media. Interviewees experienced threats in their social media feeds of physical violence, assassination, and arrest upon return to the country. Threats were also issued against their family members. An Iranian journalist reported that an online comment under one of her articles threatened her uncle in Tehran, even mentioning his home address. While some of these attacks appear to be coordinated by the government, others simply come from regime supporters. Online harassment and threats against female journalists and activists warrant specific mention here. The rise of online gender-based violence and attacks against women on social networks has been observed in many different contexts.67 Every female respondent reported receiving sexualized, degrading, and misogynistic comments and threats through online channels. One Iranian journalist stressed: “If you search my name, you will find the ugliest insults.” And although online trolling and cyberbullying is used by regime agents and supporters to target and silence female activists, interviewees also emphasized that they felt they were struggling against conservative male-dominated societies in general, in which men turn against outspoken women and push them out of the conversation. ONLINE PUBLICATION HACKING In an effort to shut down online criticism, regimes target the publications of outside media and dissidents. Brute attacks such as defacements and DDoS-campaigns that make websites unavailable were mentioned by respondents, but these types of attacks appear to be less common—or at least less successful—than a few years ago. Now that many civil society organizations have shifted to social media to publish their information and stories, threat actors have begun to rely on false reports and spamming comments from bots to block profiles. For example, two members of an Egyptian human rights campaign mentioned that their Facebook event page for European protests against the Sisi government was blocked due to massive false reports from government supporters classifying the event as sexual harassment. 65 Alinejad, M. (2018, July 31). My sister disowned me on state TV. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/31/ opinion/iran-hijab-feminist.html. 66 Interview I12, February 2019. 67 Amnesty International (2018). Toxic Twitter – A toxic place for women. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2018/03/ online-violence-against-women-chapter-1 20