Iran's Meme War: AI-Generated Lego Videos Target U.S. and Israel

During the 12-day war that began Feb. 28, Iranian team Explosive Media released AI-generated videos featuring Lego-style figurines of Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and “Satan,” an Iranian epithet for United States. “Victory Chronicles” clips appeared on YouTube, Instagram, X, Telegram and Facebook, portraying the conflict as child’s play while ridiculing U.S. and Israeli leaders.

New York Times

Explosive Media, calling itself the “Iranian Lego team,” operates from Tehran and is linked to the Revayat-e Fath Institute, a cultural center backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) researchers, senior director Bret Schafer and analyst Moustafa Ayad, documented the operation. Georgetown scholar Renee DiResta highlighted the group’s cultural fluency. U.S. filmmaker Charlie Curran produced a counter-video using AI tools. ISD estimates roughly 150 Iranian official accounts shared the memes, generating about 900 million views in the first 50 days—a thirtyfold rise.

New York Times

Iran’s foreign-ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei denounced YouTube’s removal of the Explosive Media channel as an attempt to “shield the American administration’s false narrative from any competing voice.” The White House declined comment; spokeswoman Anna Kelly asked why anyone would call “terrorist regime propaganda” effective. X offered no comment. YouTube cited violations of deceptive-practice rules, while Meta restored the Instagram account after finding no policy breach.

New York Times

Analysts warn the memes sanitize war violence and embed antisemitic tropes. Platform policies against inauthentic amplification have been applied unevenly: X permits paid-check verification for Iranian officials, while YouTube enforces bans on coordinated foreign-influence campaigns. Critics say inconsistent enforcement enables state actors to exploit algorithmic reach.

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The Lego Group declined comment on the unauthorized use of its products, and Iran’s UN mission also declined comment on the online messaging. Discrepancies remain over the precise number of accounts involved and platform enforcement.

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• “It’s spoken to the sort of Gen Z language of the internet in ways certainly diplomats don’t normally do,” — Bret Schafer, Institute for Strategic Dialogue

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• “If you go back two months and look at what they were putting out, it’s nothing like this.” — Moustafa Ayad, Institute for Strategic Dialogue

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• “They managed to hit on all of the identity-culture aesthetics that the internet is really there for,” — Renee DiResta, Georgetown University

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• “A spokeswoman, Anna Kelly, instead questioned in an email why anyone would call “terrorist regime propaganda” effective.” — Anna Kelly, White House spokeswoman

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• “It’s not inherently difficult,” — Charlie Curran, filmmaker

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ISD warns Iran’s meme tactics—coined “slopaganda”—provide a blueprint for other authoritarian actors. Observers anticipate heightened monitoring of AI-generated political content and possible policy revisions by social-media firms ahead of upcoming U.S. elections.

New York Times