Discussion

We spoke to the man making viral Lego-style AI videos for Iran. Experts say it's powerful propaganda

oa335: https://archive.is/Rocgc

dtagames: They didn't include the latest and best one, a terrific rap video that got the producer banned from YouTube.A press website posted this archive copy:https://youtu.be/5G9DNx7xIIc?si=XxIep3pySW7ZS8zb

genxy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G9DNx7xIIc share link wouldn't load

hsuduebc2: The worst part is that in it's most famous video posted above they are not really telling lies for once. That's disturbing for sure.

hsuduebc2: Why did he get banned?

drekipus: Anyone against the Epstein industrial complex must be swiftly dealt with. We need utmost support for the government and their allies regardless of what people think.

drnick1: It's quite clear in view of recent events that the mullahs aren't interested in negotiating for the good of their people. It is obvious to anyone that if Iran put all the resources they poured into secret nuclear facilities and missiles into economic development, infrastructure, and education, Iran would be in a completely different place today. Sadly, the regime's primary objective is self-preservation, and the only language it understands is violence.

stavros: > It is obvious to anyone that if Iran put all the resources they poured into secret nuclear facilities and missiles into economic development, infrastructure, and education, Iran would be in a completely different place todayFunny, I was just thinking that about the US.

dottjt: This comment is completely ignorant of at least the past 80+ years of Middle East history.

oa335: “Violent content” according to their twitter account.https://x.com/ExplosiveMediaa/status/2042388973729763746

jmann99999: Has anyone figured out what AI tool the "Mr. Explosive" team is using to make these? I find the quality of the LEGO animation to be really good. I have made stop-motion LEGO videos in the past, and this is impressive.Thanks for any insight.

vvpan: I know, I know, this is not the platform. But however I dislike the war (which sounds across-the-board unpopular except with Republican senators) having love for a regime that massacres protestors by the thousands is cruel and perverse.

deaux: > (which sounds across-the-board unpopular except with Republican senators)Having love for a regime that massacres school children by the hundreds sounds cruel and perverse, and 40% [0] of the US still approves of that regime. Guess 40% of the US is just as cruel and perverse as this person, in other words it's barely worth mentioning given how common it is.[0] https://www.aol.com/articles/donald-trumps-current-approval-...

georgeburdell: It’s really bizarre to me that, even before the war, the mainstream western media ignored the 30k protesters getting massacred in January. They have been using kid gloves with the Iranian regime for some time, like this article exemplifies.

SV_BubbleTime: How much control does China have on what comes across your screen do you think? I suspect it is not none.

themafia: > Iran put all the resources they poured into secret nuclear facilities and missilesIran has agreed to open them for inspection several times.> into economic development, infrastructure, and educationThey're embargoed to a point where they can't do this.> Iran would be in a completely different place today.Iran's currency is backed by the crown jewels the Shah left behind.

davidw: IDK what YT's standards are for banning things, but like 5 seconds in, they let loose with some pretty anti-semitic tropes.

deaux: All of the lyrics that reference it are talking about the country, the government and its president. If them being pictured as making a financial trade with the US president is an "anti-semitic trope", it becomes impossible to satirize these real-world events. Is there a different real trope that I missed?

colechristensen: Eh, it's also clear that nations without nuclear arms exist at the whims of great powers, particularly now. "behave and we'll let you have some prosperity unless you need defense in which case good luck" isn't exactly a strong argument.And the people in power in Iran actively are not in favor of the good of their people, a large proportion of which want nothing to do with their religious fundamentalism.How do you convince oppressive zealots to play nice for peace when their whole existence rests on having enemies? "death to America!" being the popular chant at political rallies.

ChrisArchitect: Previously:The team behind a pro-Iran, Lego-themed viral-video campaignhttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47661065

Barbing: (not parent)Something's been bothering me, and it's how little control our leadership has over what comes across their screens.1 - We've read the reputable reporting on the troll farms.2 - We haven't seen reporting that the problem is fixed.3 - We know our politicians are on social media.Presumably, every single day, American politicians see at least one post from someone pretending to be their constituent. How are they avoiding conscious, if not subconscious, influence?

Johnny_Bonk: Day after day, reality seems less and less real… when I was a kid I didn’t think war would include LEGO style psyops videos…

oa335: Iran spends about 2% of its GDP on defense, not that much compared to most countries in the world.https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS?locat...The issue isn’t the amount of spending; they could spend nothing and would still get bombed because they are antagonistic to the US and its allies/vassals.

abernard1: "antagonistic"They are a theocratic regime which is not supported by 80% of its population. Being gay is punishable by death. They employ surveillance from China to ensure hijabs are worn by women at all times. They ban access to the internet. Chants of "Death to America" are their government's routine greeting for 50 years. They place military equipment in schools and hospitals deliberately, viewing US compassion as a weakness. They recruit child soldiers and have them publicly stationed at military targets.There is definitely "antagonism," but to act as if the Iranian people would not bomb their own government if they could... it's a bit much.

deaux: A lot of comments talking about the Iranian regime. The videos I've seen say nothing positive about the Iranian regime, all they do is rightfully criticize the US regime that carried out an assault out on Iran, which as expected has led to nothing but more suffering for the Iranians, without improving their lives. That the Iranian regime killed thousands of protestors says nothing about both the legitimacy and the effects of the attack on Iran, and believing otherwise is caused by being raised on US propaganda.If you truly care about the Iranian people, you'd be agreeing with these videos, because the attack has only made their lives worse. And this was completely expected, look at how the last two times of the US attacking a country in the Middle East went.

drnick1: While civilian casualties are unavoidable in any conflict, the idea here is that if the regime falls, the face of the Middle East will completely change. Just look at Iran pre-1979 and imagine what it would be today had the theocracy not mercilessly oppressed the population for half a century. Perhaps this creator should use AI to generate a video of the IRGC killing an estimated 30,000 of their own people[0].[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_massacres

blizdiddy: The only thing any of that has to do with the US is that the US backed that theocracy! We cannot unilaterally violate all international law and sovereignty without Congress and our allies… that’s obvious though so what are you talking about?

mentalfist: There is a certain leap between "civilian casualties are unavoidable" and "a civilization Is going to be destroyed and sent back to the stone age through war crimes"

ozozozd: One might wonder what helped the theocracy take over the pre-1979 Iran.One need not wonder. Your first guess is correct!

roflfaghagfag: Jew says what

oa335: One of my friends in Iran who was previously critical of the government is now highly supportive of them. I wonder how many other Iranians have become supporters of the government during this war.

kakacik: I 'love' this sort of posh framing. Is there a war you like for a change? Thousands of civilians are dying on whims of an old mentally sick man, with nobody having balls to stop him anyhow. He can claim he is setting up a genocide of entire nation to whole world and... nothing? I know, one of the less bloody senseless wars US waged, ending up defeated again, but still. Everybody's US taxes are helping financing this.Nothing substantial achieved, at least not positive for US. Israel is toying with you like with a donkey and carrot on stick. Is that not insulting to your own pride and self-worth? You lost all partners globally, everybody hates dealing with US and rolls their eyes on another daily set of whims of your oligarchs.China is damn happy, russia is very happy so there is certainly that. And Iran, they will keep doing their thing, regardless of what you do and cia has to accept there isnt much they can change about that. Iran would be stupid to not throw everything into getting nuclear bomb for themselves. russians would be stupid to not help them there at this point.

shubhamjain: The article sounds like the author is visibly upset why these videos are being shared, which are mere “propaganda” to them. “Slop”, “factually inaccurate”, “Iran, the most repressive country for press freedom.”“We spoke” is doing a more than necessary work here. Maybe just ask a few things and wrote what we had decided to write. My problem isn’t with those claims, which are true, but setting a narrative where a single country is exploiting social media for propaganda while clearly ignoring the crimes of much worse actors here.

zoklet-enjoyer: I don't think most people have love for the Iranian government. We hate war and bullies

nivertech: statistics == lies

6yyyyyy: The protests and killings were extremely widely reported at the time.

fragmede: Without access to the Internet from the Iranian people, the media reach was limited. It was not widely reported.

rolymath: Maybe the US should have intervened in 1979. Oh, wait.

b00ty4breakfast: condemning the US != condoning the Iranian regime. This is not rocket appliance, you guys; saying it's wrong to murder cat burglars while they eat dinner with their kids is not an endorsement of burglary (especially when the murder is about collecting life insurance rather than stopping burglary)

Barbing: Never would have found that. Poked around, interesting:"In response to your completely valid request, and in line with the boycott of the US dollar, we have closed our USDT wallet. Please use Bitcoin or Solana instead."https://xcancel.com/ExplosiveMediaa/status/20419442863300406...

crooked-v: "The Jews are secretly running things to the detriment of the common person" has been a right-wing conspiracy theory for a long time, going well before even the invention of modern politics.With that said, I think the video, looked at as a propaganda piece, threads the needle about as well as possible - it sticks strictly to referring to Israel as a country, but also just as importantly frames Trump as the primary actor rather than taking direction from Israel.

superb_dev: Some civilian casualties may be unavoidable in a conflict sure, but the US and Israel are not trying very hard

drnick1: Trump's comments are quite obviously saber-rattling. Until now at least, the U.S. hasn't executed 30,000+ Iranians in a short period of time, and countless more over the past five decades.

b00ty4breakfast: Criticizing the US's actions against Iran is in no way condoning the things that the regime has done to it's own citizens. Especially since those actions are contributing directly to the Iranian people's hardship.I'm not saying that you, personally, are being deliberately obtuse and unnuanced about this (and I'm not even saying that there aren't people who are sympathizing with the Iranian regime) but there are absolutely people being deliberately obtuse and unnuanced about it.

Larrikin: This is a pointless complaint if the person who has ended up in charge is worse. There's no point in imagining what could have been. The world is dealing with what exist now.

bulbar: Regime change isn't the real goal here, is it? Haven't followed closely, but to me it seems the goal is to just destroy Iran as a regional power, with dire consequences for its population.

culi: I've heard the same from many Iranians I know. Western media presented the protests as an attempt to overthrow the order but it seems many protestors were simply calling for reform.

drnick1: > Funny, I was just thinking that about the US.I don't know how anyone in good faith can compare Iran's economy to the U.S.

stavros: They can't. And yet, it's true that the US would be a different place if it spent more money on education and less on missiles.

Ray20: > if it spent more money on education and less on missilesWait, isn't the US has literally the highest spending on education in the world? And it is precisely the highest spending in the world on missiles that make it possible. So less money on missiles would mean less money on education.

ipaddr: The accurate number is 6,000 but someone from Israel's side said it could be up to 30,000.Protesters are armed solders with guns organized by IDF and CIA.

kQq9oHeAz6wLLS: This comment is completely devoid of refuting evidence.

crooked-v: Except that the effect here has not been to overturn the regime, but rather to put a hardliner into absolute power while also murdering his entire family in the middle of diplomatic negotations. And then murdering plenty of innocent people, like that school full of literal children, to ensure that the country rallies around him.

culi: Specifically, Human Rights Activists in Iran's count is 6,488. Iran International is the main outlet that claimed more (first 10k, then 30k and now 40k). Iran International is actually Saudi-owned and technically based in the UK but, as The Guardian's investigation showed, is not a real journalistic institution. It's just a propaganda outlet for Mohammed bin Salmanhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/31/concern-over-u...

Ray20: > seems many protestors were simply calling for reformI mean, when you would have literally death penalty for attempt to overthrow the order, of course you will be "simply calling for reform".

bigbinary: If you are American, we are also ruled by a regime that kills thousands of innocents in the name of whatever our president feels like

culi: US prisoners per capita: 715Iran prisoners per capita: 226Particularly interesting to me is how prisoners in Iran have the right to vote while prisoners in the US can have their vote taken away.

culi: You should look at how the US overthrew Guatemala's first elected leader. A self-proclaimed capitalist was labelled a "communist" by even the NYTimes because they wanted the banana companies to pay some minimal taxes.NYTimes has since admitted to their close partnership with the CIA in its coverage but, crucially, it has never apologized for it.It's sad to see the modern panic over "fake news" as if it's a new phenomenon. Rather, this feels to me like the "boomerang theory" in actionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_boomerang