This article was shortlisted as part of the 2025 E-International Relations Article Award, sponsored by Edinburgh University Press, Polity, Sage, Bloomsbury, Manchester University Press, Palgrave Macmillan and Bristol University Press.

In the last decade, we have witnessed the emergence of a new form of digital soft power, driven by social media and meme culture. Platforms such as TikTok have evolved from mere entertainment hubs into powerful tools of political influence and transnational activism. From viral videos documenting wars in real time to global youth-led solidarity campaigns, the international stage is increasingly shaped by content produced and disseminated in a decentralized, digital environment. Across the Global South and among younger generations worldwide, TikTok and memes have become cultural weapons used to challenge official narratives, mobilize global support, and amplify transnational dissent. This article explores how TikTok and meme-driven culture function as instruments of soft power—that is, the ability to influence through attraction and persuasion rather than coercion—in today’s social and political contexts. It presents an updated conceptual framework of soft power in the digital era, drawing on recent academic sources (2023–2025) that address both its transformation and its emerging dilemmas. Through three key case studies—the war in Ukraine, global pro-Palestine mobilization, and the pan-Asian digital alliance known as the Milk Tea Alliance—we examine how viral videos and memetic content are shaping international conflict narratives and social movements. Finally, we engage in a critical discussion of the opportunities, risks, and ethical challenges posed by this decentralized form of soft power. In a world where ordinary users can shape global perceptions as much as—if not more than—traditional state actors, the dynamics of influence, legitimacy, and information flow are being fundamentally redefined.

Conceptual Framework: Soft Power in the Digital Age

The concept of soft power was first introduced by Joseph Nye in the late 1980s, defined as “the ability to influence the behavior of others to get the outcomes one wants through attraction rather than coercion or payment” (Nye, 2004). Traditionally, a state’s soft power stemmed from its culture, political values, and foreign policy, and was exercised through public diplomacy, educational exchange, international aid, and global media. For decades, states sought to “win hearts and minds” abroad by showcasing the most attractive aspects of their identity—Hollywood films, French cuisine, Japanese anime—all became instruments of cultural influence with geopolitical implications.

What has changed in the digital era? First, the rise of the internet and social platforms has exponentially expanded both the reach and immediacy of soft power. Today, any country—or individual—with a compelling narrative can access global audiences in real time, bypassing traditional diplomatic channels. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (now X), and especially TikTok allow direct engagement with broad and often unintended audiences without state mediation.

Second, the nature of the influential actor has diversified. Soft power is no longer an exclusive domain of states. Non-state actors—NGOs, internet celebrities, social movements, and even ordinary citizens—can shape global narratives. Online communities form around shared causes, creating transnational micro-publics. In this new environment, civil society plays a central role in producing soft power, often independent of or in opposition to official state agendas. As Abidin (2020) shows, TikTok’s attention economies and visibility labours shape emergent forms of internet celebrity.

Scholars and policy analysts now argue that the internet, once hailed as an open highway for ideas, is increasingly fragmented and contested. Countries are building digital walls, restricting access to platforms, and tailoring content flows to local sensibilities. This has led to a balkanization of the internet, where digital soft power is shaped not just by cultural appeal but also by algorithmic infrastructures and geopolitical filtering (Gillespie, 2018; Repnikova, 2023). According to Freedom House (2023), AI-driven moderation and algorithmic governance have become central mechanisms of digital repression worldwide. As audiences become more fragmented and polarized, public diplomacy must be more agile, personalized, and people-centered.

Another core transformation is the horizontal, participatory nature of influence. Soft power is no longer a top-down message from capitals to passive global consumers. Instead, it is a multi-directional, co-produced process, where users remix, reinterpret, and emotionally engage with content. TikTok, in particular, thrives on this participatory remix culture. According to Papacharissi (2015), digital platforms facilitate the rise of “affective publics”—communities that mobilize around shared emotions and narratives, often outside institutional structures.

Of course, this new digital landscape comes with serious challenges. The same platforms that amplify authentic voices can also spread disinformation and foster manipulated narratives. This has led to the emergence of the concept of “sharp power”, used by authoritarian regimes to distort, divide, and undermine rival societies through media and cultural channels (Walker, 2018). Instead of attracting others through legitimate appeal, sharp power uses soft tools—like news, entertainment, and social media—for coercive or deceptive purposes. In practice, this blurs the line between influence and interference.

In sum, soft power in the digital age is more accessible, participatory, and volatile. It offers extraordinary opportunities for marginalized voices to reach the world, but it also exposes societies to new vulnerabilities. As we will see in the following case studies, platforms like TikTok and the viral logic of memes are reshaping not only how influence works, but also who gets to influence.

TikTok, Memes, and the War in Ukraine

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 marked a turning point in the role of social media in armed conflict. Analysts quickly dubbed it “the first TikTok war,” not because previous conflicts had lacked online coverage, but because TikTok became a primary battlefield for global narratives—one shaped not only by journalists or state media, but by ordinary citizens in real time.

In the early days of the invasion, TikTok was flooded with user-generated content: Ukrainian civilians documenting air raids, soldiers dancing or singing to maintain morale, and young women narrating their lives from underground shelters—all paired with viral audio, humor, and a sense of raw intimacy. These videos........

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