It's probably AI but the fact is that he is right about everything
From Sri Lanka to Vietnam, anonymous operators are crafting AI-generated visions of a Britain in decline — not out of lived experience, but out of calculation. A BBC investigation has uncovered coordinated networks of overseas accounts impersonating British citizens, flooding social media with deepfake imagery designed to inflame anxieties about immigration and national identity. Whether driven by profit, ideology, or the interests of hostile states, these operations illuminate a quiet but consequential front in the struggle over how democracies perceive themselves.
- Dozens of overseas accounts — some potentially linked to Russia and Iran — are systematically flooding UK social media with AI-fabricated scenes of civilisational collapse tied to immigration.
- Videos depicting British cities in 2050 as dystopian wastelands have amassed tens of millions of views, with real commenters expressing belief and emotional investment in content they suspect may be fake.
- Operators range from engagement-farming freelancers earning Instagram payouts to coordinated networks that synchronise posting schedules across multiple countries through private group chats.
- Research warns that only 55 percent of people can reliably spot AI fakes, and that exposure to such content actively degrades people's ability to trust even authentic information.
- Meta says it is acting against coordinated inauthentic behaviour, but critics including London Mayor Sadiq Khan are pressing for algorithmic reform and mandatory AI labelling before the disinformation-for-hire industry outpaces any response.
A Facebook page called "Great British People," ostensibly rooted in Yorkshire, has racked up over a million views with videos of weeping pensioners and grave-voiced reporters lamenting a lost Britain. Its creator lives in Sri Lanka.
This is one thread in a pattern uncovered by BBC Panorama and the Top Comment podcast: dozens of interconnected accounts, operated from Sri Lanka, Vietnam, the Maldives, Iran-linked locations, and elsewhere, producing AI-generated content designed to stoke fear about immigration and national decline. Some accounts simply pivoted to this work after earlier runs covering American politics or lifestyle content.
The videos are often elaborate — AI-rendered scenes of Liverpool, London, and Birmingham in 2050, depicted as chaotic and unrecognisable, or fabricated footage of the House of Commons imposing Sharia law. When two creators were confronted, they claimed their goal was to warn voters about cultural trends, denied profit motives, and said unnamed politicians supported their work.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who commissioned research into such content, identified two distinct forces at work: mercenary actors farming engagement for income, and state-backed operations — potentially Russian or Iranian — seeking to manipulate British public opinion. He warned that these fabrications carry real costs, deterring tourists, students, and investors while corroding trust in genuine information.
The mechanics are accessible and cheap. Social psychologist Sander van der Linden notes that UK-registered accounts can be purchased easily, allowing overseas operators to pose as British citizens. One West Midlands-based coordinator told the BBC he manages posting schedules with accounts across India, Pakistan, Singapore, and beyond through a single Instagram group chat.
What makes the operation most dangerous is its effect on perception. Only around 55 percent of people can reliably identify AI-generated content, and exposure appears to increase distrust of authentic material. Comments on the videos reveal genuine persuasion — and even those who suspect the content is artificial often embrace it anyway, as one commenter captured plainly: "It's probably AI but the fact is that he is right about everything."
Meta says it has teams dedicated to identifying and disrupting coordinated inauthentic behaviour. Khan has called for algorithmic reform and mandatory AI labelling. But as van der Linden observes, the disinformation-for-hire industry is expanding faster than the institutions meant to contain it.
A Facebook page called "Great British People," claiming to represent Yorkshire, has accumulated 1.3 million views for a video of an elderly British man weeping over his pension. The clips circulating through the account show reporters gravely discussing mass immigration and asking audiences whether they remember "the Britain that used to be." The creator, however, does not live in Yorkshire—or anywhere in Britain. They operate from Sri Lanka.
This discovery, made by BBC Panorama and the Top Comment podcast, is one thread in a much larger pattern. Dozens of interconnected Facebook and Instagram accounts, many run by people thousands of miles from the UK, are systematically producing and distributing AI-generated videos designed to stoke anxiety about immigration and national decline. The network spans Sri Lanka, Vietnam, the Maldives, parts of Europe, the United States, and locations linked to Iran and the UAE. Some accounts have simply repurposed themselves for this work—switching from earlier content about American politics or lifestyle topics to focus entirely on dystopian visions of Britain's future.
The videos themselves are often elaborate. One account with more than 20 million views presents AI-generated scenes of British cities in 2050: Liverpool, London, and Birmingham rendered as filthy, chaotic places lined with people in Islamic dress, halal stalls, and Arabic script. Other fabrications show the House of Commons filled with men in traditional Arab clothing imposing Sharia law, or staged interviews with women in hijabs discussing how Britain should become more Islamic. The same creators sometimes portray foreign cities—New York, Washington DC, European capitals—in equally dystopian terms, and they occasionally present Islamic countries as idealized alternatives. When confronted about the divisive nature of their work, two of the creators claimed their purpose was to "inform people and voters about what we believe could happen in the coming decades if current social and cultural trends continue." They denied being motivated by profit and said they were in contact with "various politicians" who supported their content, though they refused to name them.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who commissioned research into AI-generated images depicting the capital in decline, has identified two distinct motivations behind these operations. Some actors are purely mercenary—individuals and companies profiting from the engagement and division their content generates. Others, he says, are backed by hostile states such as Russia and Iran, though direct state involvement remains difficult to verify. What is clear is that some accounts do share posts sympathetic to Russian and Iranian governments. The accounts' operators did not respond to BBC requests for comment. Khan acknowledged that London faces real challenges but stressed that these "AI-generated lies" have tangible consequences: they deter visitors, overseas students, and investors, and they erode public trust in authentic information.
The mechanics of the operation are straightforward enough. According to Sander van der Linden, a social psychologist at Cambridge University, it is relatively cheap to purchase social media accounts originally set up in the UK, making it easy for overseas operators to pose as British citizens. Some accounts have been coordinated by people actually based in Britain—one person running a profile from the West Midlands told the BBC he coordinates with accounts in India, Pakistan, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand through an Instagram group chat to decide what to post and when. Others are motivated purely by clicks: one account operator said they post "to get a reaction for the sake of engagement which boosts my followers and money," earning income through Instagram's monetization scheme.
The danger lies not just in the deception but in how people respond to it. Research shows that roughly 55 percent of people can accurately identify AI-generated content—far lower than most believe themselves capable of. More troubling still, exposure to AI content appears to erode people's ability to discern fact from fiction and increases their distrust of authentic material. Comments on the videos suggest real people are being persuaded: one woman responded to an AI protest scene with "keep going," while another wrote "Never Back Down." Even when people suspect content is artificial, research suggests many do not care, as long as it aligns with their existing worldview. As one commenter on the "Great British People" page put it: "It's probably AI but the fact is that he is right about everything."
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said it takes coordinated inauthentic behavior seriously and has specialized teams working to identify and disrupt such activity. The company stated it will act against any content or accounts violating its Community Standards, whether AI-generated or not. Khan has called for more aggressive action: amending algorithms to stop rewarding divisive content and clearly labeling AI material. But as van der Linden notes, the "disinformation-for-hire industry" is growing, with paid actors and influencers manufacturing support for agendas using AI and bot networks. The question now is whether platforms and regulators can move fast enough to contain it.
Notable Quotes
Our content has a clear purpose: we aim to inform people and voters about what we believe could happen in the coming decades if current social and cultural trends continue.— Two creators of the 20+ million-view account, when challenged about divisive content
The more that people see AI content, the less able that they are to discern fact from fiction, then the more likely they're going to be to distrust real content.— Prof Yvonne McDermott Rees, Queen's University Belfast
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why would someone in Sri Lanka care enough about British immigration to create all these videos?
That's the question, isn't it. Some of them don't care at all—they're just chasing engagement and ad revenue. But others seem to have a political agenda. The ones who claim to be in contact with politicians, or the accounts that occasionally post content sympathetic to Russia and Iran—those suggest something more coordinated.
So you're saying some of this could be state-sponsored?
The mayor thinks so. He's seen evidence of Russian and Chinese activity, and extreme right-wing American groups too. But it's hard to prove. What we know is that the accounts exist, they're spreading divisive content, and they're reaching millions of people.
The videos themselves—are they convincing?
Convincing enough that people believe them, or at least don't question them. The research is sobering: people are worse at spotting fakes than they think, and the more fake content they see, the less they trust real information. One commenter basically said "I know it's probably AI, but I agree with the message anyway."
So the fakeness doesn't matter if it fits what you already believe?
Exactly. And that's the real problem. It's not just about fooling people once. It's about poisoning the entire information environment so that people stop trusting anything.
What's Meta doing about it?
They say they have teams working on it and they'll remove accounts that violate their standards. But the mayor and researchers are saying that's not enough—the algorithms themselves reward this kind of divisive content. You need to change the incentive structure, not just play whack-a-mole with individual accounts.
Can it be stopped?
That's the hard question. The technology is cheap, the profit motive is real, and the political appetite for this kind of content is clearly there. You'd need coordinated action from platforms, regulators, and media literacy efforts. Whether that happens fast enough is another matter.