US-Israel War On Iran: Are We Witnessing An Escalating War Through Influencers?

Catastrophe now shares the same visual grammar as lifestyle content. War has become another category in our algorithmic feed, placed right between travel diaries, fashion advice and restaurant reviews. Globally, social media influencers with a strong audience presence have become an unexpected aperture into global conflict—turning geopolitical rupture into consumable content. The result is a strange economy of attention where commentary, outrage, sympathy and misinformation travel at the same velocity.

Post February 28, the US-Israel-Iran military conflict has witnessed a sharp escalation. Visuals of intercepted missiles, fire-smothered cityscapes and those impacted devastatingly have flooded Instagram and other social media platforms. A digital archive of a war is being produced in real time by millions of individuals who are neither journalists nor historians, yet who shape the global perception of events. The most bizarre manifestations appear when humour enters the equation.

Picture youngsters sitting out in the open for a little “missile gazing,” as seen in the context of Saad Syed’s Instagram reel. Or consider Hussein Awtane’s video (@hissou55 on Instagram), in which he responded to missiles in the sky with a twenty-rupee rocket firecracker. As dystopian as it may sound, such responses exist within the wider spectrum of reactions that emerge in war-like situations. The tone often aims for dark humour as a coping mechanism or simply shock value—yet the effect reveals something deeper about the digital age. 

Recent videos from influencers travelling to Dubai, including Hassan Habib (@hassanhqbib on Instagram) and Mohit Baisla (@mohit_baisla_ on Instagram) joked about having “front row seats to World War III”. Influencers like Riya Patni (@riya_patni22 on Instagram) and Michael (@mistar_michael on Instagram) amongst many others posted humorous reels reiterating how recently war-impacted regions have become a must-visit destination for the cheapest deals. Many creators across the world also offered “World War III outfit ideas” if there are further escalations. On the same tangent, comedians including Grant Gallacher (@thegrantichrist on Instagram), Dominik Dabrowski (@big.dabrowski on Instagram) and Lez (@lol_lez) are using skits and satirical humour to mock influencers, reducing the war to a self-centred spectacle for clicks and views. 

The Dubai Influencers Phenomenon 

In the current moment, US and Israel’s war on Iran has also drawn a particular spotlight toward influencers based in Dubai—many of whom have suddenly found themselves adjacent to the geopolitical tension. When moments of geopolitical tension intrude, public discourse quickly pivots toward reassurance to maintain a larger structure of economic and social stability. Missiles streak across the sky, yet the beach remains full, the skyline illuminated and the Instagram captions beam with pride. 

Recently, a peculiar reel trend began circulating across Dubai influencers including Juli E. (@julia joking on Instagram), Zahra Mohamadizade (@zahramohamadizade on Instagram) and Ammer Afaq Awan (@filmsbyafaq on Instagram) amongst numerous others. These reels pose a singular question—“Aren’t you afraid to live in Dubai?” responding to it with “Why should I, for I know who protects us”—followed by dramatic cuts to members of the Emirati royal family. Viewers wondered whether these posts were coordinated messaging or a subtler form of civic signalling. Formally, the United Arab Emirates maintains regulations on state-funded or promotional content in general.

Parallel to this also sits a wider digital reflex: recording calamity as a way to process uncertainty. Documentation has moral value when people in places like the Gaza Strip, Tehran or Ukraine share fragments of daily life amid political tension. Intent completely shifts the meaning derived through the camera. On another tangent of the US-Israel-Iran war, a video by Ash Mahmood (@ashbrowneyes on Instagram) documents the anger many Iranians feel toward sections of the diaspora celebrating the attacks. At home, people are mourning those killed in attacks by the U.S. and Israel, including more than a hundred students at a girls’ school. 

Is Dubai’s “Safety” Extended To All?

Outcomes in geopolitics remain volatile despite the rulers. When debris from interceptions or missile strikes can fall unpredictably, residents have little control over where or when danger might appear. Fear in the face of missile strikes and drone threats is a normal human response. Many often look for reassurance and practical guidance—which is completely expected.

What stands out here instead is the curious nonchalance of those filming war-like scenes from luxury boat parties and penthouse views while missiles are intercepted above the skyline. The ease reads as trust in government, yet it also reveals distance from violence. Residents in parts of Dubai where debris fell and injuries occurred would likely narrate a different story. 

Many influencers framed the moment through exaggerated dread—narrating proximity to war as spectacle, while simultaneously disregarding safety measures. Alongside them, local creators produce an altogether different genre: intercepted missiles turned into memes, “aura-farming” profile pictures taken against the night sky and beachside club gatherings continuing alongside the calamity at a short distance. The enthusiastic praise directed at the state also functions within a broader economy of image management. Dubai depends heavily on tourism, real estate investment and global business services. Maintaining the impression of a secure cosmopolitan hub is therefore a fiscal necessity. 

An Economy With Blood On Their Hands

Rarely do these celebratory posts acknowledge the disturbing mechanisms that keep the metropolis running. This includes labour exploitation and political alignment with states such as Israel, whose military actions remain widely condemned. When criticism emerges, defenders frequently dismiss it as “jealousy” or “insecurity” from other nations. Some also argued that this is what it feels like to have a government take care of its citizens. 

Civilians of varied origins who have migrated to the city are also reassuring global audiences that life remains orderly and safe. Many speak with visible pride about the state’s competence and security apparatus. However, what they don’t seem to reveal is that their residency permits can disappear overnight—for loyalty and performative praise offer little protection when political situations turn volatile. 

There’s a certain hesitation as well, a sense of not knowing how to respond to these online videos that are as human as they are bizarre. In several clips, Indian migrant workers in Dubai recently reacted to missile interceptions with startled laughter and colloquial Hindi curse words. In a strange juxtaposition, fireworks celebrating India’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup victory lit the same skies where interceptions occurred. In that sense, all of these responses mirror the broader mythology of Dubai itself: a disorienting place where spectacle often outruns scrutiny and where the image the world sees matters almost as much as the citizens do behind it. Despite everything, this military escalation risks pushing the conflict toward wider global instability. 

Vapidness Of The Privileged 

Influencers including Louis Starkey (@ellestarkos on Instagram), insulated by capital and mobility, lamented that “this shouldn’t be happening here,” as though geography or the cushion of luxury grants exemption from conflict. Alongside these reels, influencers also posted content about specifically not getting first class tickets out of Dubai and how five-star hotels aren’t accommodating them anymore (these videos have since been removed by Instagram). Amid the crisis, influencer Luke Ede (@flexibledieting_coach on Instagram) posted a reel with his family. In it, they joked that the war had merely extended their Dubai vacation and left them “stuck” for another week, even quipping in the caption about applying for citizenship.

Beyond the vapidness and insensitivity, claims that the “United Arab Emirates has been dragged into regional instability” ignores a harsher question: did civilians in Gaza Strip, Yemen or Sudan willingly want to be involved in wars? For a place many influencers dearly defended for years, they also immediately fled Dubai, leaving numerous pets behind. Dogs were found abandoned in apartments or tied to lamp posts as shelters and vet offices filled up. Rescue groups like K9 Friends Dubai and War Paws said the crisis exposed the gap between Dubai’s curated luxury image and real responsibility.

The Role Of Social Media In Wars

One can debate for hours the rhetoric of “liberation” that often accompanies American engagement with Iran. Strategic pressures and conflicts ultimately destroy and reshape the lives of ordinary Iranians. In such a scenario, social media becomes the only window to witness people’s turbulent realities. Same goes for Palestinians, Sudanese and Ukrainians amongst others caught in between socio-political turmoils.

Sadly, social media, once a decentralised forum of individual expression, now also operates within networks of state funding and incentives. Recent reports by Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, published that certain Israel-aligned influencers filed lawsuits for not being paid after producing sponsored pro-government messaging. The campaign, run by Bridges Partners LLC with assistance from Havas Media, appointed 14-18 individuals for the same. According to the report, these influencers were offered $7,000 for each post but weren’t remunerated at all. Influencers are increasingly functioning as instruments in state communication strategies. The common man cannot easily determine how any state machinery truly operates, nor whether its governance is effective beyond curated optics.

War is ultimately an abnormal situation. In the end, one must observe without judging too quickly, while still using discretion. People’s reactions, experiences, trauma and emotions call for greater empathy and more mindful digital consumption. For audiences, this reality requires a sharper form of literacy. In an era where geopolitics travels through reels and threads, the responsibility to question what we consume becomes less a virtue and more a civic skill.