In the platform age, influence is no longer about persuasion alone; it is about reach, engagement, and spectacle.
In March 2026, a series of unusual videos began circulating widely across social media. They depicted American President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as LEGO-style characters, placed in surreal, often disturbing wartime scenarios. Set to catchy, AI-generated music, these clips blended humour, satire, and horror – showing bombed schools, toy soldiers marching into rivers of blood, and miniature coffins draped in national flags.
Some of these videos were even aired on Iranian state television, while others spread rapidly online through accounts claiming to be independent creators. Whether produced by state-linked entities, loosely affiliated groups, or opportunistic digital actors, the origin of the content was often unclear. What was evident, however, was its impact: the videos travelled fast, reached millions, and sparked widespread engagement.
Blurring the Line between State and Spectacle
The ambiguity surrounding such content is not incidental; it is central to how modern propaganda operates. Groups like the so-called “Explosive News Team” claim to be independent, even as their content aligns closely with state narratives. Meanwhile, official accounts, including those of governments, are increasingly adopting similar visual languages.
This convergence blurs the boundary between official messaging and grassroots content. It also complicates accountability. When platforms remove such content, they are left to justify whether it constitutes coordinated manipulation, state propaganda, or simply viral creativity.
War as Content: The Entertainment Turn
What distinguishes this new wave of propaganda is not just its message, but its form. War is no longer communicated solely through speeches, reports, or traditional media. It is packaged as content in the form of memes, animations, and short videos that borrow heavily from popular culture.
This trend is not limited to one country but has become a global phenomenon. Most recent one comes from The White House, which too, has experimented with similar formats sharing videos that merge real military footage with video game aesthetics, referencing titles like Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto, and even mimicking the visual style of gaming interfaces. Back in India, the news channels often termed as Godi Media also shared the war updates similar to the ways like the way they are reporting any sports.
While the narratives differ, some emphasising victimhood (giving scores – 1 killed in US- 2 in Iran like a score board), and others projected dominance, the strategy remains the same: make war visually engaging, familiar, and easily shareable.
The Logic of the Attention Economy
At the heart of this transformation lies the logic of the attention economy. On social media, the value of content is determined not by its accuracy or authority, but by its ability to capture attention and generate engagement.
The most successful content combines familiarity with shock – recognisable formats placed in unexpected or jarring contexts. A LEGO animation of a bombing or a meme-styled war clip is more likely to be watched, shared, and discussed than a conventional news report.
Crucially, users do not need to agree with such content to amplify it. They only need to find it compelling.
A Decade in the Making
This evolution did not emerge overnight. As early as 2015, the Israel supported groups like ISIS were producing highly stylised recruitment videos that borrowed from gaming and cinematic aesthetics to appeal to younger audiences. These videos were designed not just to inform, but to attract, provoke, and circulate.
State actors soon followed. In 2020, China’s Xinhua News Agency released a LEGO-style animation critiquing the United States’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Russia later adopted similar visual strategies in its information campaigns around Eastern Europe.
While in India, the BJP IT cell did experiment this in their style, which was soon replicated by the Godi Media. What connects these examples is a shared understanding: in the digital age, influence depends on how content travels, not just what it says.
The Power of Memes, Satire, and Ridicule
Satire and humour have become particularly potent tools in this landscape. They are engaging, easily digestible, and difficult to counter. A factual rebuttal to a meme or animated parody often appears slow, overly serious, and mismatched in tone.
As a result, spectacle tends to outpace substance. Viral content reaches wider audiences than detailed reporting, shaping perceptions before facts can catch up.
Recent figures illustrate this imbalance. Social media videos related to on-going conflicts have generated billions of impressions – far exceeding the reach of most traditional news coverage. For many users, war is encountered first as content, and only later, if at all, as verified information.
The Problem of Attribution and Control
Generative AI has further accelerated this shift. It allows for the rapid production of high-quality content at minimal cost, enabling both state and non-state actors to flood platforms with competing narratives.
This creates a complex propaganda environment where attribution becomes difficult. Multiple actors – governments, proxy groups, independent creators – can produce similar content, often reinforcing each other’s messages.
For platforms, this raises difficult questions: What constitutes propaganda? Where is the line between creativity and manipulation? And who decides?
The effectiveness of modern propaganda cannot be measured solely by whether it changes minds. Its impact is more subtle and pervasive.
Viral content shapes the environment in which people interpret events. It influences what feels important, what appears credible, and what emotions are associated with a conflict. It creates a shared atmosphere – one defined by spectacle, repetition, and emotional resonance.In this context, propaganda is not just about convincing audiences. It is about occupying their attention.
When the Meme Becomes the Message
As media theorist Jacques Ellul argued decades ago, propaganda evolves with the systems that carry it. In today’s algorithm-driven ecosystem, it increasingly takes the form of content designed to travel – fast, far, and widely.
The implications are profound. When memes, animations, and viral clips become the primary medium through which people encounter complex geopolitical realities, the line between information and entertainment begins to dissolve.
The question is no longer just what people believe, but what they see – and how often they see it. In an age where virality determines visibility, the most powerful message is not necessarily the most truthful one. It is the one that travels the furthest.
The Cost of a Viral Reality
AI-driven propaganda marks a shift where attention, not accuracy, shapes how conflicts are understood. As war remains the increasingly consumed content through memes and viral content, complex realities risk being reduced to spectacle. This blurs the line between information and entertainment, making it harder to distinguish truth from manipulation. Addressing this challenge requires not only platform accountability but also stronger media literacy among users. Ultimately, the danger is not just that propaganda spreads; it is that it reshapes how reality itself is perceived. And in an age where the meme often becomes the message, the struggle for attention may prove just as consequential as the struggle for truth.
[Mohd Ziyauallah Khan is a freelance content writer and editor based in Nagpur. He is also an activist and social entrepreneur, co-founder of the group TruthScape, a team of digital activists fighting disinformation on social media.]