AI-generated influencer spreads far-right narratives to millions unchecked on Facebook, The Independent finds
A. The nurse burst into tears and claimed she was fired for posting her views on immigration online. A farmer is accusing the Labor government of deliberately destroying British agriculture for the sake of imported foreign meat. A man who watched migrants arrive on British shores claims they were offered luxury accommodation on arrival.
These politically divisive videos about Britain racked up millions of views, but they were all created using artificial intelligence (AI) and produced by people more than 5,000 miles away.
The Life in Britain page has more than 100,000 Facebook followers. Even though all of their videos are AI-generated, none of them receive warnings from Facebook, which is owned by parent company Meta. Independent We reported this to the tech company more than a month ago.
Facebook’s transparency information on the page shows that although it produces content for a UK audience, the page’s administrators are based in Sri Lanka.
Experts at deepfake and synthetic media detection company Resemble AI said: Independent The account may be part of an AI-generated influence campaign designed to amplify British political narratives online.
Similar artificial intelligence analyzed videos Independent and found several signs that they were created using artificial intelligence, including unnatural audio and visual artifacts such as distorted faces. It was evaluated that 97 percent of the videos were created by artificial intelligence.
“It’s not uncommon to receive social engineering attacks from foreign organisations. You’re getting scam calls that don’t originate from within the UK. This is very similar,” said founder Zohaib Ahmed. It looks like artificial intelligence said Independent.
Facebook said Independent On May 29, it said it was investigating after the account was brought to its attention, but did not provide a timeline for the investigation or say whether any action would be taken.
When asked by Independent Facebook did not respond as to whether money was made from this account.
Visiting senior researcher in the Department of War Studies, KCL, Dr. He told Lukasz Olejnik: Independent: “The use of AI-generated influencer and propaganda content is increasing. AI-generated video is particularly important because it can create false visual evidence that is easy to share, emotionally compelling, and difficult to quickly verify. These tools can be used by individuals and coordinated non-state and state actors.”
Dr Olejnik added: “The risk for the UK is not only that voters will believe a single fake video, but that repeated exposure could undermine trust in institutions, journalism, elections and foreign policy decisions.”
“And in leadership, including in times of crisis. This creates opportunities for external actors to capitalize on sensitive political debates such as security, migration, protest, defense policy and relations with allies.”
The potential consequences of such online content have not gone unnoticed. Last year, we released the research to the public. House of Commons The Home Affairs Committee showed AI-generated images depicting Muslims as a threat, fueling the Southport riots in 2024.
Far-right accounts have reportedly spread manipulated images online that reinforce racist stereotypes, including depictions of Muslims carrying guns or wearing suicide vests.
London School of Economics research It found that social media posts containing these visual depictions of racist conspiracy theories were replicated 30 percent more than others.
Researchers from the LSE have warned that the rise of AI-generated material, combined with the way social media algorithms reward divisive content, is accelerating radicalization and making extreme ideas more visible.
The rise of online disinformation led London Mayor Sadiq Khan to pledge £7 million to tackle the problem last month after he said the capital had been subjected to a “relentless and unprecedented onslaught of lies and hate”.
The announcement followed report The Greater London Authority (GLA) has identified a 200 per cent increase in online posts depicting London as a city in decline and becoming increasingly dangerous in the last two years.
“If I want to influence decisions, the easiest way to do that at this point is to create generative AI content, create fake AI accounts on social media platforms. And then you have a distribution channel,” Mr. Ahmed said.
He added: “These algorithms will deliver this content to millions of people, with hundreds of thousands of millions of views, almost instantly. So it almost becomes a math game.”
Earlier this year, Meta Independent Audit Board He warned that the company needs to tag AI-generated content more proactively and “more frequently” on its platform.
They suggested that Meta invest in more powerful detection tools for AI-generated content.
The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology said: “Platforms have a legal duty to combat illegal content, including material that incites violence or hatred, and we expect them to take firm action to protect users.”
Facebook has clear guidelines prohibiting hate speech, harmful misinformation, deceptive behavior and coordinated inauthentic activity, and claims to take action against content that violates its policies.
Earlier this year, the tech platform removed several Vietnam-based Facebook pages identified as: “Content farms” were exposed after BBC Wales found they were spreading false narratives about British politics using deepfakes.
The owners of the Life in Britain Facebook page have been contacted for comment.
