How Dysfunctional Charismatic Autocrats Weaponize Social Media as an Instrument of State Violence
June 28, 2026โข346 words
When an aggressive dysfunctional charismatic leader consistently showcases violence against another country on social media, they are engaging in state propaganda. Such bravado and chest thumping to rally a population, social media provides a direct population pipeline to shape public perception.
This behaviour generally serves several strategies.
Showcase Power
Such displays of military aggression and scenes of killing "enemies" to cultivate hegemonic strength, resolve, and historic action is common with such charismatic narcissistic sociopathic individuals. Showing destructive capabilities or territorial gains is designed to foster nationalism, reduce internal dissent, and convince the population that victory is certain, thereby justifying the economic, political, and human loss of life due to the unjustified attack and conflict.
Dehumanization
Most societies are against unprovoked unjustified military violence. To overcome this, charismatic, oddball leaders use social media to create a false story or narrative to target a country or its leadership as an existential, physical, or symbolic threat. By consistently portraying the other nation as terrorists, corrupt, and dangerous, the leader reframes acts of unjustified aggression as necessary self-defense or a preemptive strike, making violence appear morally acceptable to the political supporters and oligarchs.
Demoralization
Such psychological warfare constantly broadcasting via social media overwhelming force or existential destruction of a civilisation is an attempt to induce panic, lack of resistance, and weaken the adversaryโs internal cohesion from a distance without facing massive military deaths.
Fragment International Opposition
Using social media as a blowhorn bypasses traditional diplomatic channels and creates specific narratives, with disinformation, twisting stories into hypocrisies of foreign adversaries, and to polarize public opinion internationally. Such a charismatic extreme narcissistic dysfunctional leader tries to confuse or divide public sentiment, and threaten any political will of foreign governments to impose sanctions or provide aid to the targeted victim nation.
In short, the display of violence from Israel and USA in the Middle East is not random; it is an integrated component of hegemonic warfare, where controlling the narrative online is treated as critically as controlling territory and all its resources in a foreign nation state.
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