Over a decade ago, the Islamic State released a disturbing video that depicted its members lowering men locked in a cage into a swimming pool and drowning them. Today, that video has been reproduced as a SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon depicting fish in orange jumpsuits inside the cage, as SpongeBob lowers the cage into the water while Squidward films the scene.
\n\nThe video, shared on TikTok, is part of what a new report from the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (ISD) calls “Slop Jihad,” a trend where young supporters of Islamic terror groups like ISIS and al-Qaida appear to use generative AI tools to create fan edits, cartoons, and memes designed radicalize a new generation of online backing.
\n\nThis shift “signals a fundamental transformation in the aesthetics of jihadist propaganda online,” concludes the report, which was shared exclusively with WIRED.
\n\n“The principal concern is the growing volume and diversity of material,” says Adam Hadley, executive director of Tech Against Terrorism, a UN-backed counter terrorism organization that has also written a report about the Slop Jihad trend. “Highly stylized AI-generated content can make violent Islamist extremist material more accessible to younger audiences while reducing the visibility of conventional terrorist branding. Users may encounter…
Original source: https://www.wired.com/