The Philippines is no stranger to politically weaponised memes and internet trolls. What has changed is the way information warfare is waged, now requiring nothing more than a smartphone and a well-crafted prompt. Supporters of former president Rodrigo Duterte helped pioneer the industrialised use of social media to spread disinformation, rewarding loyalists and destroying opponents through the ruthless deployment of memes, viral videos, paid amplifiers and manufactured trending topics. Analysts...
A satirical online movement challenges power and propaganda in India.
New approaches to war propaganda are reshaping the conflict between Israel, Hezbollah, and Iran.
The Iranian embassy in Beijing has released an animated rap video featuring internet memes and pop culture to mock US leaders and celebrate Iran’s warm ties with China. The two-minute video What is the East? was published on Monday afternoon and had drawn over 370,000 views by noon the next day. It also carried a strong message of Eastern unity and leaned heavily into millennial and Gen Z nostalgia to demonstrate cultural crossover. This included an animated version of Pesar Ammeh Za – a puppet...
Iranian authorities held mass public weddings in Tehran for couples who signed up to a state-sponsored scheme declaring their readiness to sacrifice their lives in the war against the US and Israel. The ceremonies conducted late on Monday involved hundreds of couples in several major squares in the capital, including more than 100 in the vast Imam Hossein Square in central Tehran, according to reports in Iranian media. They were broadcast on state TV in a bid to boost wartime morale, with US...
Israel has never spent more on its national propaganda campaigns.