Influencers stoke World War Three fears to sell ‘survival' tools

Telegraph

12-07-2025

'World War Three? I'm scared,' one influencer tells her 1.4 million viewers before promoting a multi-purpose power bank: a must-have 'survival' item.
She pans the camera to her TV where a news report shows Iranian missiles raining down on Tel Aviv, before saying: 'This is a recipe for World War Three.'
In the same breath, she claims her father is a military veteran who told her the 'most important item to have in your survival bag' is a power bank.
'If you want to get yourself prepared, I'll link it for you,' she says, guiding her followers to buy the device for £10 in a commissioned post.
Another influencer, clad in an industrial gas mask, asks viewers: 'If World War Three started tomorrow, would you be prepared?'
She directs her 124,000 followers to a link where they can purchase their own breathing apparatus for under £15.
'If you want to keep you and your family safe, don't wait,' the beauty influencer warns. 'The sale ends soon.'
A third, prolific World War Three content creator promotes a multi-tool, boasting several apparently life-saving items, from a fire-starter to screwdriver.
@vi0letred Replying to @waywardtraveler1848 if World War 3 broker out tomorrow, would you be prepared? #ww3 #worldwar3 #gasmask #fullfacemask #prepper #doomsdaypreppers #preppersoftiktok #tiktokshopcreatorpicks #dealsforyoudays #tiktokshopsummerturnup ♬ original sound - Violet
Fear-mongering for views and commissions is part of a growing trend for influencers. Experts say they have lost any sense of reality and are capitalising on fear of foreign states while exploiting TikTok's broad-reaching algorithm.
The marketing technique evokes some scepticism, with one disgruntled user commenting: 'Scaremongering for commission. Welcome to 2025.'
Yet the clicks – and money – keep coming. The influencer flogging a solar-powered power bank and radio has sold over 75,000 through TikTok Shop, the app's on-site shopping platform.
TikTok relies on its commission-paid content creators and algorithm to advertise and sell its products.
Influencers are profiting from the fact that war is more widespread today than it has been in decades, with armed conflict touching every major region in the world, according to Telegraph analysis of data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (Acled).
Between 2020 and the end of 2024, the global death toll from war exceeded one million, with the increase largely attributed to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war.
@theshopguider This is an essential for all bugout bags✅ #survival #camping #light #multitool #dealoftheday #ww3 #foryou #tiktokshop ♬ original sound - theshopguider
For Evie Aspinall, director of the British Foreign Policy Group, the younger generation's general misunderstanding and disassociation from the realities of global conflict – from war in Ukraine to the threat China poses to our society – is deeply concerning.
She said influencers were taking advantage of young people's ignorance and scaring them into buying 'survival' items on TikTok Shop.
Ms Aspinall added that this tendency is being exacerbated by a lack of critical thinking and engagement with reliable news sources, which is leading to a deep generational divide.
'We have recently conducted several focus groups in which the level of generational difference in perceptions of national security have been so striking,' says Ms Aspinall, former UK head delegate to the Youth7, the G7's official youth engagement group.
'Younger Britons are generally much less bothered about Ukraine than older Britons. They are less bothered about China. A huge amount of this disconnect can be attributed to social media.'
Fear-mongering online content is pushing Gen Z and millennials further away from the realities of foreign threats and what the future of modern warfare actually looks like, Ms Aspinall said.
She added that war in the future will be less about trench fighting and more about complex and nuanced attacks that could impact the British public as a whole.
'The average person does not understand that, for example, a cyber attack on the NHS would be absolutely catastrophic,' she said.
When asked by YouGov for a survey last month to pick three of the most important issues facing the country, only 11 per cent of 16 to 25 year-olds chose defence and security. That compared to 43 per cent of those over the age of 65.
'This huge generational divide clearly coming from social media is not encouraging critical thinking,' Ms Aspinall said.
Melanie Garson, associate professor in international security and conflict resolution at University College London, stressed the danger of social media users being pounded by 'prepare for WWIII' videos as they scroll through TikTok.
'Creating that hysteria diversion could be a malicious actor's way of putting pressure on the Government not to intervene,' she said. 'This attempt at societal destruction needs to be investigated as it could be part of their playbook.'
A broader concern for Ms Garson was the inability of Britons to discern the truth, which she said reflected wider shortcomings in the education of Britons about war and international threats.
Ms Garson stressed the need to 'break the algorithmic bubble', with social media an increasingly important provider of news worldwide.
She said: 'This starts with teaching people the critical thinking skills of how to engage with sources of information and [discern] what a legitimate source is.'
Lessons in media literacy
Both Ms Aspinall and Ms Garson said the Government had a key role to play in opening conversations about the real threats posed by foreign states and actors.
The Government's Strategic Defence Review last month drew attention to the need to build nationwide resilience in the face of threats posed by states such as Russia, China and Iran.
What building national resilience looks like, and how it will target younger generations, is yet to be seen.
There are clear examples of how this can work effectively, with Finland instilling critical thinking skills in children as part of their early education.
As Britain scales-up national defence, how the military interacts with its citizens on home soil will be the true measure of its strength, Ms Aspinall said.