As memes migrate from fringe imageboards into the official communication channels of governments and militaries, the grammar of irony, gaming culture, and pop aesthetics is being deployed to normalize dehumanization, justify violence, and wage information warfare. From Iran's Lego propaganda campaigns targeting Western audiences, to White House Studio Ghibli-style cartoons mocking deportation arrests, to video game references etched onto bullet casings by a would-be assassin — the line between joke and weapon has never been harder to locate, or more urgent to teach. What makes memetic warfare so difficult to counter is that its power lies precisely in its ambiguity. The irony-poisoned aesthetic of meme culture gives bad actors plausible deniability — it's just a joke, it's just a meme — while the dehumanizing message lands exactly as intended. And when governments adopt the same tactics, the aesthetics of cruelty get laundered through pop culture until they feel normal. Join the MediaEd Club as we examine how memes have become weapons of power, propaganda, and political manipulation. Through real case studies drawn from recent conflicts and domestic politics, critical frameworks for understanding memetic warfare, and practical classroom strategies, we'll explore what this moment demands of media-literate citizens — and how educators can help learners recognize, contextualize, and resist meme-based manipulation.
Date: Monday, May 4, 2026
Time: 12 pm EST | 6 pm CET | 10:30 pm ISTÂ
LOCATION: Register here for the webinar series.
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Recommended Media (preview before attending)
- Article: We're Being Played Through Propaganda, Memes, and War (Psychology Today, 1 April 2026)
- Article: Trump Admin's Racist Halo Memes Are a New Level of Dehumanization of Immigrants (404 Media, 28 Oct 2025)
- Article: Iran Strikes and the Meme War (Washington Post, 6 March 2026)
Optional Media (enrich your learning)
- Podcast: "Assassinations Are Shitposts Now" (Angry Planet, Matthew Gault, 18 Sept 2025 - requires subscription)
- Article: What's behind the Trump administration's immigration memes? (NPR, 18 August 2025)
- Article: Iran's war propaganda homes in on Trump with Lego memes (CNBC, 1 April 2026)
- Article: Trump turns migrants into memes to promote deportation agenda (Axios, 29 March 2025)
- Report: Memes as Digital Weapons — new report highlights the role of humour in the fight against Russian information disorder (Nottingham Trent University, 18 July 2025)
- Journal Article: Digital Defiance: Memetic Warfare and Civic Resistance (European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 28 March 2025)
- Book: LikeWar - The Weaponization of Social Media (P.W. Singer & Emerson T. Brooking, 2018)
Host: Dr. Wesley FryerÂ
Wesley Fryer, PhD, is a middle school STEM and media literacy middle school teacher at Providence Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina. As an educational technology “early adopter / innovator” since the late 1990s, Wes continues to share regularly on social media. Learn more on wesfryer.com.
Please get in touch with us if you want to suggest future Media Club meeting topics to discuss an article, book, podcast, video or any media related to our interests.
Dr. Wes Fryer, Webinar Series Manager |Â wes.fryer@providenceday.org Â
* AI Image (for this webinar) generated by Wes Fryer using Gemini's Nano Banana Pro.