It’s like a scene from the Lego movie. Just get your political messages across faster, clearer and sharper. The viral AI-generated clip, produced by a company called Explosive Media, features dying children, fighter jets and Donald Trump and is designed to project Iran as a nation resisting American rule.
The BBC’s Top Comments podcast spoke to a representative of the operation, known as Mr Explosive. He claims the organization is run by a team of less than 10 people. The aesthetic choice is intentional, he says, because Lego-style graphics are a “world language.”
There is no doubt that the choice of format is key to the story. Iranian and Russian state media accounts about X regularly amplify these clips to their millions of followers. In total, AI-generated propaganda videos about the conflict are estimated to have been viewed hundreds of millions of times.
Propaganda expert Dr Emma Bryant told the BBC that the content was too sophisticated to be dismissed as mere “slopaganda” (a term coined last year from the AI slop). These clips use AI tools trained primarily on Western cultural data, allowing them to effectively generate content that Bryant calls “culturally appropriate” for Western audiences. This is exactly what authoritarian governments have historically lacked, she says.
Videos aren’t just compelling; They are also fast. One clip of the ceasefire agreement was released before the official announcement. Another video shows Iranian forces capturing a downed American pilot, contradicting confirmed reports that the airman was rescued by U.S. special forces. When challenged, Mr. Explosive completely dismissed the official US account.
Despite factual inaccuracies throughout, the clip has gained traction among real-life viewers. A US-based TikTok influencer with a sizeable following told viewers that the Lego video was accurate about the pilot episode and that the mission was actually a uranium recovery operation, but this claim has no reliable basis.
Social media platforms have been removing these accounts, but new ones pop up just as quickly.
Cyber warfare expert Tyne Munk of Nottingham Trent University characterizes this tactic as “defensive meme warfare,” which cuts off news outlets and mass media and communicates directly to the audience. “Traditional diplomacy does not exist here,” she told the BBC. The risk is misunderstanding and escalation, she added. “So we’re kind of in limbo.”
The operation began in early 2025. Since the war between the United States and Iran began in February, it has only grown in scale.
