Similarly, the Iran government, despite suffering the deaths of most of its senior leaders and commanders, the regime responded with an asymmetrical information campaign. Using memes and deepfakes, Iranian state-affiliated accounts have themselves exaggerate military successes that did not really occur.One striking example is the Lego-themed AI propaganda clips, viewed hundreds of millions of times during the war. The clips denounce the Epstein files to frame Iran as seeking freedom against ‘cannibals and child molesters’, yet Iran itself allows child marriage under Article 1041 of its civil code.
Meanwhile, the White House has also engaged in its own propaganda. A senior White House official boasted that these videos generated over 3 billion impressions in just four days, far surpassing previous social media efforts in the administration’s second term. Most staffers were vividly encouraged to repurpose viral memes from private chats to reach younger online audiences.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly defended the approach, stating: « The legacy media wants us to apologize for highlighting the United States Military’s incredible success, but the White House will continue showcasing the many examples of Iran’s ballistic missiles, production facilities, and dreams of owning a nuclear weapon being destroyed in real time ».
Both sides are weaponizing spectacle, just with different tools. Iran uses AI to fabricate cinematic victories. The US uses Hollywood and gaming aesthetics to reframe violence as entertainment.
This is quite confusing for the rest of the world trying to stay alert in this world crisis that is now bombarded with a new war of memes that is presented through playful or entertaining lenses, it can essentially dehumanize and desensitize the public to civilian harms.
The global audience has been manipulated during wartimes with the help of propaganda. However, the lies spread much faster and we haven’t quite tackled how to deal with this. This has created just a lack of trust for everyone.
“While it doesn’t affect our investigations, it slows us down,” Sam Dubberley from Human Rights said. “It makes people question everything and it takes us longer to pierce through this fog of the noise online and in social media. That’s what’s challenging. »
Hany Farid, a specialist at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, is one of the world’s leading experts in determining whether a photo or video has been manipulated, says « Generative AI doesn’t know about physics, doesn’t know about geometry”
How to detected AI videos ?
Pay attention to the small details
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Eyes portraits or videos : The reflection in a person’s eyes should clearly match the environment and natural eye movements cannot be replicated.
- Shadows must obey geometry and follow the Sun’s direction and naturally fade.
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Metal surfaces: Reflections on cars, weapons, or jewelry should distort with the surface curve.
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Color bleeding: A red object should cast a faint red tint on nearby white surfaces. AI almost never simulates this.
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Ambient occlusion: Where two surfaces meet (e.g., arm against body), there should be a darker crease.
- Overspectacular videos: Real war footage is often messy, poorly lit, and visually unremarkable.
AI videos are not the only. way to misspread malinformation (
Sources:
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/trolling-memes-and-deepfakes-how-ai-thickening-fog-war
https://www.euronews.com/next/2026/03/30/how-misinformation-and-ai-deepfakes-on-social-media-are-reshaping-the-iran-war
https://www.science.org/content/article/deepfakes-are-everywhere-godfather-digital-forensics-fighting-back
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/11/world/video/ai-war-videos-digvid
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjd8jrd1vnyo
https://www.defense.gouv.fr/en/news/disinformation-weapon-war
https://www.wionews.com/photos/-married-at-13-property-for-life-7-horrific-laws-in-khamenei-s-iran-against-women-that-the-world-is-ignoring-1772448017897
