• YouTube has terminated a channel belonging to a pro-Iran group that produces viral Lego-themed AI videos ridiculing US President Donald Trump.
• Explosive Media is a group of pro-Tehran creators that describes itself as independent but is widely suspected of ties to the Iranian government.
• They have gained internet notoriety during the US-Iran war for animation videos that have racked up millions of views.

YouTube has terminated a channel belonging to a pro-Iran group that produces viral Lego-themed AI videos ridiculing US President Donald Trump, the Google-owned platform said Wednesday, sparking online criticism.

Explosive Media, a group of pro-Tehran creators that describes itself as independent but is widely suspected of ties to the Iranian government, gained internet notoriety during the US-Iran war for animation videos that have racked up millions of views.

“We terminated the channel for violating our spam, deceptive practices and scams policies,” a YouTube spokesman told AFP, without elaborating.

The channel was suspended on 27 March, he added.

Explosive Media was still posting videos mocking the US war effort on other tech platforms, including the Elon Musk-owned X and Telegram.

Meta-owned Instagram also took down the group’s account, US media reported, but another account under its name was still active on Wednesday.

Meta did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.

Lashing out at YouTube, Explosive Media wrote on X: “Seriously! Are our LEGO-style animations actually violent?”

Widely shared

YouTube’s suspension appeared to have had a limited impact on Explosive Media’s reach, with its videos still widely shared by content creators on the platform.

The satirical videos, which tap into American popular culture, caricatured Trump with an oversized yellow head. They portrayed him as an old, isolated figure prone to childish tantrums, seemingly disconnected from reality.

After a two-week ceasefire was announced last week, the group released a video lampooning Trump and declaring “Iran won”.

“The way to crush imperialism has been shown to the world. Trump surrendered. IRAN WON,” read the caption of the video on X after the two-week ceasefire agreement was announced.

“TACO will always remain TACO,” it added, referring to the acronym “Trump always chickens out.”

With dramatic background music, the video depicts a Trump-like toy figure huddling with Arab leaders, hurling a chair at US military figures, while Iranian generals press a red button with the label “Back to the Stone Age,” unleashing a torrent of destruction across the Middle East.

Another clip on X depicted Trump – caricatured with an oversized yellow head and a flaming backside – holding a sign that read: “VICTORY! I am a loser.”

Cartoonish video memes – amplified by Iranian diplomatic missions and pro-Tehran accounts on social media – are emerging as an effective information warfare tool, a phenomenon analysts have dubbed the “Legofication” of conflict propaganda.

In recent weeks, viral meme videos have depicted fictional Iranian military victories, world leaders in subservient scenarios – dependent on Iranian leaders for oil – and even the strategic Strait of Hormuz reimagined as a cartoonish toll booth.

The English-language content of Explosive Media appears aimed at audiences outside Iran, where platforms like X have been blocked for years and are only accessible via VPN.

With Iranians facing what monitor NetBlocks calls an “internet blackout,” the ability of Explosive Media to produce and upload slick content has fuelled suspicion of ties to the Iranian regime.

The group has rejected the claim as a “media distortion.”

‘Age of AI slop’

Iranian state media and diplomatic accounts have leaned into their strategy, regularly posting similar so-called AI slop – mass-produced content created by cheap artificial intelligence tools.

“Iran has crafted a wartime propaganda strategy tailored for the age of AI slop and algorithmic amplification,” Joseph Bodnar, a senior research manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, told AFP.

“They are playing to the AI aesthetics and hyperbolic anti-imperialist narratives that draw attention, spark controversy and get rewarded by platforms.”

“It is clear that Iran is putting out content that resonates,” Bodnar said.

Meme battlefield

The White House’s X account has meanwhile posted its own war-themed content – combining battlefield footage with clips from films such as Iron Man, Gladiator and Top Gun.

The content highlights an internet meme battlefield that has blurred the line between propaganda and entertainment.

And while the Trump administration used AI-generated content in its social media strategy well before the war, the virality of Explosive Media’s clips suggests it may be contending on the digital front, experts say.

The group is “beating the Trump administration at its own game,” said Nina Jankowicz, chief executive of the American Sunlight Project.

“The immature humour, the polarising rhetoric, the idea of ‘owning’ opponents, and the clicks-at-whatever-cost strategy that Trump and allies have employed is now being mobilised against it.”

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