UK democracy under ‘immense strain’ with just 3% of voters able to tell if a video is real or AI, charity warns
UK democracy is under “tremendous and increasing pressure” due to the increasing spread of disinformation by artificial intelligence (AI); Only 3 percent of the public can easily tell whether an online video is real or not.
Fact-checking charity Full Fact said last year there had been a rise in AI-powered content, with information becoming too easy to manipulate and harder to trust.
He called on ministers to take action to protect confidence in elections, including stronger rules on ‘political deepfakes’ – digitally created or altered content, often in the form of fake images, videos and audio recordings.
“As voters in Makerfield prepare to cast their votes in a high-stakes by-election, it is clear that many people are struggling to separate fact from fiction and trust the information available to them,” the organization warned in its 2026 annual report. Strengthening the UK’s Democratic Information Environment.
Independent recently revealed that around 16.5 million adults in the UK, almost a third, were exposed to political deepfakes in the month before the UK local elections in May.
Next week voters will head to the polls in Makerfield for a contest to decide Britain’s next prime minister if Labor candidate Andy Burnham, who has said he will challenge Sir Keir Starmer, wins the seat.
Full Fact warned that election law must catch up with the realities of modern campaigning and that voters need to know who is paying for political ads and when deepfakes are being used.
The report says the government “missed the chance to strengthen these measures ahead of the last May election and the Makerfield by-election” but could introduce them before the next general election.
But Full Fact’s chief executive, Chris Morris, warned that the UK risks being “left behind” internationally, saying “decisions made now will shape whether future elections will be defined by confusion and distrust, or by openness, trust and democratic resilience.”
“Facing similar pressures, other democracies are beginning to move towards more coordinated approaches built around transparency, preparedness and accountability. The UK risks being left behind if it continues to respond in a piecemeal and reactive manner.”
The charity warned that one of the challenges facing Makerfield and future elections is that voters are increasingly unable to distinguish what is real and what is synthetic. A new YouGov poll conducted for Full Fact found that 80 percent of people are concerned about political misinformation and only 3 percent say it’s too easy to tell whether an online video is original or AI-generated.
Almost half (48 per cent) of the public say political misinformation has affected their trust in institutions including government and parliament, while two-thirds, 66 per cent, think ministers are doing too little to address AI-generated misinformation.
The report warns that misleading use of factual information is more common than outright fabrications, and that some policy areas such as crime, immigration and the economy are more frequently associated with misinformation.
Regarding the rise in AI, Full Fact says it suspects AI played a role in four of the fact checks it published in November 2024. By October 2025, this number had increased to at least 27.
The Full Fact investigation also found examples of AI reviews repeatedly debunking claims on social media, fabricating information about world events, failing to identify AI-generated content or video game footage, and “producing conflicting results for the same searches.”
The organization warned that online information “is becoming harder to trust, harder to navigate and very easy to manipulate.”
“A healthy democracy depends on the ability of citizens, institutions and communities to understand the facts, to recognize what is real, to reach common understanding about important things and to make informed decisions. This is currently under enormous and increasing pressure,” he says.
He also warns that the election period immediately before the vote poses serious challenges. Even a small number of seemingly reliable items can “create uncertainty that will outlast corrections.”
Last year’s presidential election in Ireland was rocked three days before the vote when a hoax claimed candidate Catherine Connolly had withdrawn. Although he was eventually selected, the video was viewed hundreds of thousands of times within a few days.
Full Fact warned that key parts of the system, including artificial intelligence systems, social media platforms and search engines, were only partially regulated.
The report calls for stronger rules to deal with political fraud and new laws to prevent misinformation and disinformation in political campaigns.
Full Fact also wants platforms to be legally mandated to “support effective media and political literacy.”
Ministers should also increase the powers of the watchdog Electoral Commission to investigate political advertising and create a comprehensive public library.
The report also found that more proactive communication could help combat disinformation.
It touched on the aftermath of the Liverpool parade crash in May 2025, when Merseyside Police released details of the suspect’s nationality and ethnicity earlier than they might have in the past.
