The Protocols of the Elders of Zionfirst surfaced in 1903, in what was then the Russian Empire. The book, consisting of fraudulent meeting minutes belonging to a fictional group of Jewish elites, aided the growth of antisemitism in Europe. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The Protocols was one of the main tools that Adolf Hitler used to harness antisemitic sentiments and justify the Holocaust.
In retrospect, propaganda like this is easily identified. It is bold, bigoted and outrageous. But propaganda has not disappeared—it has merely evolved. Subtler now, it circulates through memes, deepfakes and coordinated digital campaigns that reshape public perception.
Nottingham Trent University describes memes as “short, shareable pieces of visual or textual content that use humor, symbols and cultural references to convey meaning.” This modern definition grew from the term that evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins described as “a unit of cultural information.”
At least a decade before the internet age began, Dawkins used the study of memes, memetics, to analyze how populations spread and perceive information. Memes can convey truth or spread falsehood, inspire humor or subtly reshape how we perceive the world. In recent years, the strategic exploitation of memes and online content has inspired a new name: memetic warfare.
Memetic warfare is dangerous due to the medium; memes and short reels offer little opportunity to engage with an issue seriously. However, some internet spaces go beyond oversimplification and risk normalizing serious issues.
An article by The Observer highlighted TikTok accounts such as “try unredacted,” which post content related to notorious child-sex predator Jeffrey Epstein. The account in question releases AI-generated clips of Epstein dancing and sells merchandise, including replicas of his monogrammed quarter-zip.
Similar accounts exist on multiple platforms. According to the article, #JeffreyEpstein is associated with more than 64,000 videos on TikTok. These references range from legitimate news coverage to AI-generated clips and dark-humor memes. The result is a confusing slurry of information that only serves to blur the lines of reality.
As the memeification of the Epstein files continues, it is easy to forget that the core of the matter is not a joke, but a serious criminal case involving documented exploitation and abuse.
The government has also used internet humor to disseminate information. Both Donald Trump and the White House social media team have interspersed memes and AI-generated clips among more traditional posts.
A Feb. 13 White House post on X presented satirical Valentine’s Day cards based on recent political events, including the Greenland conflict, mass deportations, and the capture of Nicolás Maduro, former president of Venezuela.
Trump has also posted additional controversial content, including an AI-generated clip of Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries wearing a fake mustache and sombrero, and another clip depicting former President Barack Obama and his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama, as apes.
While these posts are controversial and widely criticized, they differ from covert memetic warfare because their source is identifiable.
Most dangerous are the waves of content posted by shadow organizations and foreign governments. Independent or private internet users can misconstrue and minimize reality but less often coordinate their efforts.
Other governments, however, have clear political goals and vast resources. Information distributed by these governments can present a cohesive narrative aimed at undermining the American system.
According to a joint statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Administration (CISA) on Nov. 1, 2024, Russian influence actors were responsible for a video distributed during the U.S. election cycle that falsely depicted illegal immigrants from Haiti voting in the election.
Another video falsely accused a Democratic official of taking a bribe. The statement explained that these posts were components of a broader effort to discredit the integrity of the 2024 U.S. election. In the leadup to election day, the committee said they expected Russia “to create and release additional media content that seeks to undermine trust in the integrity of the election and divide Americans.”
The European Union Institute for Security Studies explored the issue of memetic warfare in a brief released late in 2024. The report connected China and Iran to election interference during the 2022 midterms and Russia to interference during the 2016 and 2024 general elections. The brief provided several specific examples of involvement in the 2024 election.
“In January, a fabricated video depicted President Biden urging New Hampshire voters to abstain from voting in the state’s Democratic primary,” the brief states. “Similarly, following Biden’s withdrawal, a deepfake of Vice-President Harris appearing to speak incoherently circulated on TikTok. Fake audio clips of Trump mocking Republican voters were also spread.”
The Institute expanded their research globally, where they discovered that at least 130 deepfakes had been used to influence elections in less than two years.
According to The New York Times, Russian government agencies and media companies often outsourced their propaganda efforts to U.S.-based platforms. This included channeling nearly 10 million dollars to Tenet Media, a Tennessee-based company employing conservative influencers such as Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin and Tim Pool.
The Chinese government also produced content related to LGBTQ+ issues, racism, drugs and gun control, all while camouflaging their true origin behind fake accounts.
According to the European Union brief, the Iranian government favored Harris during the 2024 campaign. One intervention tactic involved sending fake, threatening emails from the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, to registered Democrats, with the intention of motivating the voter base.
Wired published an article that dug deeper into Russian interference in the 2016 election, an effort spearheaded by the country’s Internet Research Agency (IRA). The IRA used X accounts and other social media platforms to spread memes that stoked division between Americans. Posts included an image of a puppeteer accompanied by a fake George Orwell quote, calls to third party voting and Pepe the Frog memes aimed at right-leaning millennials.
The truth behind our social media feeds may be concerning, but it reflects the nature of the internet: less accountability and more content than ever before.
According to a recent Harris Poll study 85% young people receive news from social media, a stark departure from the days when citizens turned to mainstream news and national newspapers. .
Memes and clips can also do a lot of good. Visuals transcend culture and age, while short-form content communicates information with ease. Social media plays an important role in making young people more politically engaged.
Still, we are becoming increasingly comfortable with compressing our news into simple, sanitized boxes. We are eager to smile, swipe and forget—oblivious to the issues our humor excuses and the motives of those who produce our content.
Propaganda has always latched onto the flaws in humanity: hate, fear and frustration about the world. It may have been more public in the past, contained in books such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zionthat told bold-faced lies.
But propaganda did not end with Nazi Germany, and it is not exclusive to distant, authoritarian countries. It is subtle yet present, shifting how we treat issues and see the world.
As we navigate conflict in our country, it is important to look beyond the haze of information that fogs our screens and toward the real issues: the lives that are affected, the policies at stake and the true aims of those who lead us.
Memetic warfare: How the Web sways the world
By: Leif Bromme
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion first surfaced in 1903, in what was then the Russian Empire. The book, consisting of fraudulent meeting minutes belonging to a fictional group of Jewish elites, aided the growth of antisemitism in Europe. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The Protocols was one of the main tools that Adolf Hitler used to harness antisemitic sentiments and justify the Holocaust.
In retrospect, propaganda like this is easily identified. It is bold, bigoted and outrageous. But propaganda has not disappeared—it has merely evolved. Subtler now, it circulates through memes, deepfakes and coordinated digital campaigns that reshape public perception.
Nottingham Trent University describes memes as “short, shareable pieces of visual or textual content that use humor, symbols and cultural references to convey meaning.” This modern definition grew from the term that evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins described as “a unit of cultural information.”
At least a decade before the internet age began, Dawkins used the study of memes, memetics, to analyze how populations spread and perceive information. Memes can convey truth or spread falsehood, inspire humor or subtly reshape how we perceive the world. In recent years, the strategic exploitation of memes and online content has inspired a new name: memetic warfare.
Memetic warfare is dangerous due to the medium; memes and short reels offer little opportunity to engage with an issue seriously. However, some internet spaces go beyond oversimplification and risk normalizing serious issues.
An article by The Observer highlighted TikTok accounts such as “try unredacted,” which post content related to notorious child-sex predator Jeffrey Epstein. The account in question releases AI-generated clips of Epstein dancing and sells merchandise, including replicas of his monogrammed quarter-zip.
Similar accounts exist on multiple platforms. According to the article, #JeffreyEpstein is associated with more than 64,000 videos on TikTok. These references range from legitimate news coverage to AI-generated clips and dark-humor memes. The result is a confusing slurry of information that only serves to blur the lines of reality.
As the memeification of the Epstein files continues, it is easy to forget that the core of the matter is not a joke, but a serious criminal case involving documented exploitation and abuse.
The government has also used internet humor to disseminate information. Both Donald Trump and the White House social media team have interspersed memes and AI-generated clips among more traditional posts.
A Feb. 13 White House post on X presented satirical Valentine’s Day cards based on recent political events, including the Greenland conflict, mass deportations, and the capture of Nicolás Maduro, former president of Venezuela.
Trump has also posted additional controversial content, including an AI-generated clip of Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries wearing a fake mustache and sombrero, and another clip depicting former President Barack Obama and his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama, as apes.
While these posts are controversial and widely criticized, they differ from covert memetic warfare because their source is identifiable.
Most dangerous are the waves of content posted by shadow organizations and foreign governments. Independent or private internet users can misconstrue and minimize reality but less often coordinate their efforts.
Other governments, however, have clear political goals and vast resources. Information distributed by these governments can present a cohesive narrative aimed at undermining the American system.
According to a joint statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Administration (CISA) on Nov. 1, 2024, Russian influence actors were responsible for a video distributed during the U.S. election cycle that falsely depicted illegal immigrants from Haiti voting in the election.
Another video falsely accused a Democratic official of taking a bribe. The statement explained that these posts were components of a broader effort to discredit the integrity of the 2024 U.S. election. In the leadup to election day, the committee said they expected Russia “to create and release additional media content that seeks to undermine trust in the integrity of the election and divide Americans.”
The European Union Institute for Security Studies explored the issue of memetic warfare in a brief released late in 2024. The report connected China and Iran to election interference during the 2022 midterms and Russia to interference during the 2016 and 2024 general elections. The brief provided several specific examples of involvement in the 2024 election.
“In January, a fabricated video depicted President Biden urging New Hampshire voters to abstain from voting in the state’s Democratic primary,” the brief states. “Similarly, following Biden’s withdrawal, a deepfake of Vice-President Harris appearing to speak incoherently circulated on TikTok. Fake audio clips of Trump mocking Republican voters were also spread.”
The Institute expanded their research globally, where they discovered that at least 130 deepfakes had been used to influence elections in less than two years.
According to The New York Times, Russian government agencies and media companies often outsourced their propaganda efforts to U.S.-based platforms. This included channeling nearly 10 million dollars to Tenet Media, a Tennessee-based company employing conservative influencers such as Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin and Tim Pool.
The Chinese government also produced content related to LGBTQ+ issues, racism, drugs and gun control, all while camouflaging their true origin behind fake accounts.
According to the European Union brief, the Iranian government favored Harris during the 2024 campaign. One intervention tactic involved sending fake, threatening emails from the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, to registered Democrats, with the intention of motivating the voter base.
Wired published an article that dug deeper into Russian interference in the 2016 election, an effort spearheaded by the country’s Internet Research Agency (IRA). The IRA used X accounts and other social media platforms to spread memes that stoked division between Americans. Posts included an image of a puppeteer accompanied by a fake George Orwell quote, calls to third party voting and Pepe the Frog memes aimed at right-leaning millennials.
The truth behind our social media feeds may be concerning, but it reflects the nature of the internet: less accountability and more content than ever before.
According to a recent Harris Poll study 85% young people receive news from social media, a stark departure from the days when citizens turned to mainstream news and national newspapers. .
Memes and clips can also do a lot of good. Visuals transcend culture and age, while short-form content communicates information with ease. Social media plays an important role in making young people more politically engaged.
Still, we are becoming increasingly comfortable with compressing our news into simple, sanitized boxes. We are eager to smile, swipe and forget—oblivious to the issues our humor excuses and the motives of those who produce our content.
Propaganda has always latched onto the flaws in humanity: hate, fear and frustration about the world. It may have been more public in the past, contained in books such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion that told bold-faced lies.
But propaganda did not end with Nazi Germany, and it is not exclusive to distant, authoritarian countries. It is subtle yet present, shifting how we treat issues and see the world.
As we navigate conflict in our country, it is important to look beyond the haze of information that fogs our screens and toward the real issues: the lives that are affected, the policies at stake and the true aims of those who lead us.
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Staff Writer