Memetic warfare: Digital resistance and the expanding battlefield

• In Event: Information pollution

Abstract

In the digital age, warfare has expanded online, turning the information sphere into a crucial battleground. Memetic warfare now plays a central role in modern conflicts/wars, driving new strategies and tactics to shape public perception and control narratives. Defined by Munk (2024) as a form of information warfare that uses memes to achieve political, strategic, or ideological objectives, memetic warfare is a key element of hybrid warfare and information pollution. Memes can spread falsehoods, manipulate opinion, and harass, but they are also weaponised for fact-checking and countering disinformation. Digital activism and memetic warfare have shifted from countering Russian disinformation to challenging Trump, Musk, their policies, and their involvement in domestic and international conflicts. This new geopolitical situation has notably impacted Ukraine and Europe, highlighting the evolution of defensive memetic warfare to fight back. This paper examines the North Atlantic Fellas Organization (NAFO), a decentralised civic resistance group countering information pollution. It explores how NAFO’s meme campaigns extend beyond Ukraine’s war efforts to broader geopolitical issues, including Russian propaganda and Trump-era post-truth rhetoric. This research employs digital ethnography, incorporating contextual and semiotic analysis, to explore how digital resistance strategies evolve in response to changing political landscapes and global disinformation campaigns.

Author

• Tine Munk, Nottingham Trent University