BBC – A network of social media accounts linked to Sri Lanka and several other countries has been spreading AI-generated anti-immigration content targeting the United Kingdom, according to a BBC investigation.

The investigation by BBC Panorama and the Top Comment podcast found that dozens of interconnected Facebook and Instagram accounts were sharing fake AI-generated videos portraying Britain as a country in decline due to immigration and the spread of Islam.

One Facebook page titled “Great British People”, which claims to be based in Yorkshire, was reportedly operated by an individual in Sri Lanka. The page alone had gained more than 1.3 million views for one of its latest videos featuring an elderly British man crying over his pension.

Other AI-generated clips showed fabricated scenes of the UK Parliament supposedly enforcing Sharia law, fake interviews with Muslim women calling for Britain to become more Islamic, and fictional depictions of British cities in 2050 filled with rubbish, unrest and Islamic imagery.

The BBC reported that several account operators were based in Sri Lanka, Vietnam, the Maldives, the United States and parts of Europe, while some accounts were also linked to Iran and the UAE.

According to the report, many of the accounts had previously focused on unrelated themes such as US politics before switching to anti-immigration narratives to increase engagement and social media revenue.

Social psychologist Prof. Sander van der Linden of the University of Cambridge described the activity as a “new evolution of influence operations”, warning that repeated exposure to AI-generated misinformation could make people distrust authentic information.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said some of the content appeared to be driven by individuals seeking profit through social media engagement, while others could be linked to hostile foreign influence campaigns.

He warned that such “AI-generated lies” could damage London’s global reputation and discourage tourists, investors and international students.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, told the BBC it takes “co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour seriously” and would act against accounts violating its community standards.

Some of the account operators admitted to the BBC that their main goal was to provoke reactions online and increase engagement for monetisation purposes.