Gen AI Tools Are Now Being Used to Push ‘Slop Jihad’

Over a decade ago, the Islamic State released a disturbing video depicting its members drowning men locked in a cage. Today, that video has been recreated as a SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon, part of a new trend called "Slop Jihad." A report from the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (ISD) highlights this emerging phenomenon, where Islamic terror groups utilize generative AI tools to produce fan edits, cartoons, and memes aimed at radicalizing younger audiences online.

According to the report, this shift signifies a fundamental transformation in the aesthetics of jihadist propaganda, making violent content more accessible and engaging for younger viewers.

Adam Hadley, executive director of Tech Against Terrorism, notes that highly stylized AI-generated content can reach a wider online audience while reducing the visibility of conventional terrorist branding. Concerns arise as users may encounter perpetrator glorification through fan edits, cartoons, memes, and other entertainment-style formats, which can then lead to algorithmic recommendations of more overt propaganda.

Islamic terror groups have historically adapted to new media environments to reach a broader audience online, as seen in the Alt Jihad movement during the early 2020s. In 2024, the Islamic State-affiliated News Harvest news program began using AI-generated anchors to disseminate propaganda videos quickly and cheaply. However, the current Slop Jihad trend involves more creative uses of AI, such as turning official terror group content into animated videos.

While some traditional supporters react negatively to this new aesthetic, expressing animosity towards what they perceive as insincere "producers" of Slop Jihad content, others share the newer videos alongside traditional propaganda. TikTok has emerged as the primary platform for spreading Slop Jihad content, with the majority of videos hosted on the platform.

A report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2024 found TikTok among the top 10 platforms used to spread terrorist and extremist content.

The ISD report, however, faced criticism from TikTok, which denies the findings and claims it has taken down the referenced content from its platform. Despite this, experts in Islamic terror groups agree with the ISD's findings, emphasizing the ease with which generative AI enables a broader, more decentralized set of users to remix jihadi figures and imagery. This content circulates across communities driven by violence, trolling, or notoriety, rather than actual commitment to jihadi ideology.