Editorial illustration for AI-Created Anti‑ICE Videos Adopt Fanfic Style to Boost Social Media Reach
AI Videos Mimic Fanfic to Target ICE on Social Media
AI-Created Anti‑ICE Videos Adopt Fanfic Style to Boost Social Media Reach
AI‑generated clips targeting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have taken an unexpected turn: they’re being scripted like fan‑fiction. Short, dramatized scenes—complete with cliffhangers and exaggerated dialogue—are posted across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, where the platform’s algorithm rewards rapid, shareable content.
While the tech behind the videos is sophisticated, the narrative choices feel deliberately low‑budget, borrowing tropes from romance and thriller fan communities to hook viewers who might otherwise scroll past a standard protest video. The result is a hybrid of political messaging and pop‑culture storytelling that spreads faster than many traditional activist campaigns. AI manipulations have also become an especially effective, if sometimes biza——a tool for creators looking to amplify a cause without the resources of a professional production house.
That blend of algorithmic savvy and narrative flair raises a question about intent: why merge activist content with fanfic conventions, and what does that mean for the reach of anti‑ICE messaging?
"I suspect the goal of making these kinds of AI-generated videos is to draw on both of these strategies: to add more anti-ICE content to social media, and to potentially make popular anti-ICE content so that it goes viral." AI manipulations have also become an especially effective, if sometimes bizarre, tool for political influence by the Trump administration. A week ago, the White House posted an altered photo of civil rights attorney and former Minneapolis NAACP president Nekima Levy Armstrong after she was handcuffed during an arrest for a peaceful demonstration at Cities Church over the previous weekend; it described her as a "far-left agitator." According to a Survey Monkey analysis, 73 percent of marketers say AI plays a role in creating personalized experiences, while a 2024 Graphite study noted that more than 50 percent of new articles on the web were being generated by AI.
These AI‑crafted clips borrow the fan‑fiction aesthetic, pairing exaggerated confrontations with a non‑violent resolution. A principal brandishes a bat, a server hurls noodles, a shop owner invokes the Fourth Amendment—each scene ends with cheers, not blood. The quote from the creator suggests the intent is twofold: to flood social platforms with anti‑ICE material and to engineer shareability.
Yet the effectiveness of that strategy remains unclear. While the videos attract attention, it is uncertain whether they shift public opinion or merely add to online noise. The approach uses familiar tropes, turning protest into a stylized narrative that fits the algorithms of short‑form platforms.
Critics might argue the dramatization oversimplifies complex immigration issues; supporters could see it as a creative outlet for dissent. No data yet shows measurable impact on policy or activism. In short, the phenomenon illustrates how AI can remix activism into consumable content, but whether that translates into tangible change is still an open question.
Further Reading
- AI-powered political fanfiction racks up views online - Semafor
- Joy-Ann Reid calls out DHS for AI-generated video of Black men threatening ICE - The Grio
- Papers with Code - Latest NLP Research - Papers with Code
- Hugging Face Daily Papers - Hugging Face
- ArXiv CS.CL (Computation and Language) - ArXiv
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Common Questions Answered
How are AI-generated videos about ICE raids being created to go viral on social media?
AI-generated videos targeting ICE are being scripted like fan fiction, using dramatized scenes with cliffhangers and exaggerated dialogue to capture social media algorithms. [theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/dec/03/anti-immigrant-material-among-ai-generated-content-getting-billions-of-views-on-tiktok) reports that these accounts are strategically posting content to maximize viral potential, with some accounts posting up to 70 times per day.
What types of AI-generated content are gaining billions of views on platforms like TikTok?
Researchers discovered 354 AI-focused accounts generating 43,000 posts that accumulated 4.5 billion views in just one month. Half of the most active accounts focused on content related to the female body, often featuring stereotypically attractive women in sexualized attire, while other content included fake news segments with anti-immigrant narratives.
How are social media platforms responding to the spread of AI-generated deceptive content?
[nytimes.com](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/technology/ai-slop-sora-social-media.html) reports that most major social media companies have policies requiring AI content disclosure, but these guardrails have proven inadequate against new AI technologies. TikTok has revealed at least 1.3 billion AI-generated posts on its platform and is now giving users options to reduce the amount of AI content they see.