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Framing war on social media: Digital diplomacy in the 2026 US/Israel–Iran war

Cilt: 23 Sayı: 2026 27 Ekim 2026
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Framing war on social media: Digital diplomacy in the 2026 US/Israel–Iran war

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This study examined how digital diplomacy and information warfare became intertwined during the 2026 US/Israel–Iran war. Drawing on framing theory, the study comparatively analyzed 1,682 war-related posts shared on the official English-language X accounts of the three belligerent states’ foreign ministries (@StateDept, @IsraelMFA, @IRIMFA_EN) during the first 62 days of the war. The posts were subjected to a two-tier content analysis based on Entman’s four framing functions: problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and treatment recommendation. The findings revealed that the three states framed the same conflict through distinct dominant legitimacy frames, deterrence for the United States, violation of international law for Iran, and counter-terrorism for Israel, and systematically attributed responsibility to the other side. The parties also diverged in discursive tone, counter-narrative use, and audience targeting, while delegitimizing elements were pervasive across all accounts. Within-account engagement analysis showed that officially toned posts were consistently associated with lower visibility than each account's typical post, whereas emotional, aggressive, and ironic registers were associated with greater visibility, and that visibility was largely decoupled from content volume and audience size. The study concluded that wartime digital diplomacy operates as a multilayered discursive war in which the boundary between diplomacy and information warfare becomes increasingly blurred.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Digital diplomacy, framing, information warfare, social media, digital communication

Kaynakça

  1. Al Jazeera. (2026, April 21). Trump announces Iran ceasefire extension but says blockade remains. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/21/trump-announces-extending-iran-ceasefire-but-says-blockade-remains
  2. Al Nahed, S., & Hammond, P. (2018). Framing War and Conflict: Introduction to the Special Issue. Media, War & Conflict, 11(4), 365–368. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635218798992
  3. Arquilla, J., & Ronfeldt, D. F. (with United States & National Defense Research Institute (U.S.)). (1999). The emergence of noopolitik: Toward an American information strategy. Rand.
  4. Batur, A., & Bostancı, M. (2022). Rusya-Ukrayna Savaşının Algı Yönetimi ve Dijital Diplomasi Bağlamında Türkiye’ye Yansımaları. İletişim ve Diplomasi, (9), 123–146. https://doi.org/10.54722/iletisimvediplomasi.1198050
  5. Bjola, C. (2016). Digital diplomacy – the state of the art. Global Affairs, 2(3), 297–299. https://doi.org/10.1080/23340460.2016.1239372
  6. Bjola, C., & Fjällhed, A. (2025). Public diplomacy in the crossfire: Decoding Ukraine’s ‘Strategic Self’ during wartime. International Affairs, 101(6), 2059–2083. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaf179
  7. Bossetta, M. (2018). The Digital Architectures of Social Media: Comparing Political Campaigning on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat in the 2016 U.S. Election. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 95(2), 471–496. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699018763307
  8. Bradshaw, S. (2020). Influence Operations and Disinformation on Social Media. Centre for International Governance Innovation. https://www.cigionline.org/articles/influence-operations-and-disinformation-social-media/
  9. Bradshaw, S., & Howard, P. N. (2019). The Global Disinformation Order: 2019 Global Inventory of Organised Social Media Manipulation. The Computational Propaganda Project at the Oxford Internet Institute. https://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/93/2019/09/CyberTroop-Report19.pdf
  10. Buzan, B., & Waever, O. (Eds.). (2003). Regions and powers: The structure of international security. Cambridge University Press.

Kaynak Göster

APA
Kaplan, İ. (2026). Framing war on social media: Digital diplomacy in the 2026 US/Israel–Iran war. OPUS Journal of Society Research, 23(2026), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.1991946
AMA
1.Kaplan İ. Framing war on social media: Digital diplomacy in the 2026 US/Israel–Iran war. OPUS TAD. 2026;23(2026):1-20. doi:10.26466/opusjsr.1991946
Chicago
Kaplan, İsmail. 2026. “Framing war on social media: Digital diplomacy in the 2026 US/Israel–Iran war”. OPUS Journal of Society Research 23 (2026): 1-20. https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.1991946.
EndNote
Kaplan İ (01 Ekim 2026) Framing war on social media: Digital diplomacy in the 2026 US/Israel–Iran war. OPUS Journal of Society Research 23 2026 1–20.
IEEE
[1]İ. Kaplan, “Framing war on social media: Digital diplomacy in the 2026 US/Israel–Iran war”, OPUS TAD, c. 23, sy 2026, ss. 1–20, Eki. 2026, doi: 10.26466/opusjsr.1991946.
ISNAD
Kaplan, İsmail. “Framing war on social media: Digital diplomacy in the 2026 US/Israel–Iran war”. OPUS Journal of Society Research 23/2026 (01 Ekim 2026): 1-20. https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.1991946.
JAMA
1.Kaplan İ. Framing war on social media: Digital diplomacy in the 2026 US/Israel–Iran war. OPUS TAD. 2026;23:1–20.
MLA
Kaplan, İsmail. “Framing war on social media: Digital diplomacy in the 2026 US/Israel–Iran war”. OPUS Journal of Society Research, c. 23, sy 2026, Ekim 2026, ss. 1-20, doi:10.26466/opusjsr.1991946.
Vancouver
1.İsmail Kaplan. Framing war on social media: Digital diplomacy in the 2026 US/Israel–Iran war. OPUS TAD. 01 Ekim 2026;23(2026):1-20. doi:10.26466/opusjsr.1991946