White House Uses "Call of Duty" Clips in Iran Conflict Posts Amidst Middle East Strikes

The White House X account utilized clips from the video game "Call of Duty" in official posts related to the ongoing conflict with Iran. This action occurred days after the United States engaged in armed conflict in the Middle East. The footage appeared within a compilation of images depicting U.S. warfare.

The White House's use of "Call of Duty" clips in posts about the Iran conflict has drawn significant attention.

Clip Details

The video clip featured gameplay from "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III." It included a scene portraying a kill streak animation, which depicts a user unlocking the ability to launch a nuclear arsenal. The video was accompanied by the text "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue."

Context and Reactions

Reports indicated that a military strike resulted in the deaths of thousands of Iranians.

An attack reportedly hit a girls' elementary school in Minab, causing the deaths of dozens of children; whether the school was an intended target by U.S. or Israeli forces was not clear.

An attack reportedly struck a girls' elementary school in Minab, leading to the deaths of dozens of children.

Chance Glasco, a founding developer of the "Call of Duty" franchise, responded to the White House post. He stated that after Activision's acquisition following Respawn's formation, there was pressure from Activision for developers to create a "Call of Duty" game about Iran attacking Israel. He noted that the majority of developers rejected this concept.

A "Call of Duty" founding developer revealed past pressure to create a game depicting Iran attacking Israel, a concept largely rejected by developers.

Online Misinformation

Online platforms have experienced widespread misinformation concerning military operations and counterattacks in Iran. This included decontextualized images and videos, such as video game and flight simulator screenshots, posted shortly after news of coordinated attacks.

Researchers observed that AI-manipulated images and videos garnered millions of impressions on platforms like X, Instagram, and Facebook. X subsequently announced that it would suspend users from its Creator Revenue Sharing program if they posted AI-generated content depicting armed conflict without proper labeling.

Widespread misinformation, including AI-manipulated images and decontextualized video game footage, has garnered millions of impressions on social media.

Prior Use of Video Game Footage by Government Agencies

Video game footage has previously been used as a communication tool by U.S. government agencies.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) utilized images from the Xbox game "Halo" in social media posts last year, bearing the phrase "Destroy The Flood" and linking to an ICE recruitment page. DHS had also previously posted videos of immigration raids with the "Pokémon" tagline "Gotta catch 'em all."

These posts coincided with escalating operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including "Operation Metro Surge" in Minnesota, which resulted in the deaths of U.S. citizens Rene Good, Alex Pretti, and Keith Porter.

Previous use of video game imagery by DHS for recruitment and immigration raids coincided with ICE operations that resulted in the deaths of U.S. citizens.