Overseas 'content farms' creating political deepfakes uncovered

## Summary
Technology company Meta removed several Vietnam-based pages from Facebook after a BBC Wales investigation found they were spreading fake news. The BBC has also uncovered examples of AI-generated videos, shared by pages in Wales, falsely showing Welsh politicians in compromising situations including endorsing a rival and kissing a colleague. Images of politicians Boris Johnson, Zia Yusuf and Nigel Farage which made them appear to be in hospital were among those posted by Vietnam-based pages BBC Wales found a number of Facebook pages publishing fake news about UK politicians, often accompanied by AI-generated images. More top stories Images of face released in bid to solve mystery of man found dead in wetsuit Mum's disbelief at sentence for driver who killed daughter, 15, on zebra crossing Model who starred in TV drama Dallas dies aged 62 Technology Wales Social media Welsh Parliament election 2026 Artificial intelligence Deepfakes

## Article Content
Overseas 'content farms' creating political deepfakes uncovered
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Ben Summer
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Several pages based overseas are posting AI-assisted fake news about UK politics on social media
Overseas "content farms" are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create social media posts about UK politics, an expert has warned.
Technology company Meta removed several Vietnam-based pages from Facebook after a BBC Wales investigation found they were spreading fake news.
The warning, from Prof Martin Innes of Cardiff University, comes as the Electoral Commission is developing software to spot and combat deepfakes ahead of the Welsh and Scottish parliaments' elections in May.
The BBC has also uncovered examples of AI-generated videos, shared by pages in Wales, falsely showing Welsh politicians in compromising situations including endorsing a rival and kissing a colleague.
Several Welsh politicians told the BBC about their experiences as victims of deepfakes.
"I don't think you'll find a politician who hasn't had this done to them... to say it out loud makes me feel quite sad," said Labour MP Alex Davies-Jones.
What is a deepfake?
Deepfakes are videos, pictures or audio clips digitally altered or manipulated to make something fake look real.
Some are silly, but others could potentially damage reputations.
And text-to-image AI tools have made them easier to generate than ever before.
Images of politicians Boris Johnson, Zia Yusuf and Nigel Farage which made them appear to be in hospital were among those posted by Vietnam-based pages
BBC Wales found a number of Facebook pages publishing fake news about UK politicians, often accompanied by AI-generated images.
Each of these pages had thousands of followers and many of them posted the same, or very similar, content.
They often had names which implied they were UK-based news outlets - but, by using a transparency feature on Facebook, it was possible to see almost all of these pages were run from Vietnam.
Although they featured some real news stories, a large amount of their content could be easily proven false.
Meta removed some of these pages after it was contacted by the BBC but, throughout the investigation, new pages were being created almost daily.
The pages often depicted multiple politicians, including Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Zia Yusuf, in the same fake situation – for example, storming out of a BBC interview after dramatic arguments with Laura Kuenssberg.
There is no suggestion these pages are being run by, or on behalf of, any political party.
A fake argument with Laura Kuenssberg was one of the fake scenarios multiple politicians were staged in
Prof Martin Innes, director of Cardiff University's Crime and Security Research Institute, said the pages were "content farms" designed to go viral.
They may in turn make their owners money from Facebook's monetisation programme, but it is not possible to know for sure whether each page is monetised.
Facebook marked some stories with a warning, saying they had been proven false by third-party fact-checkers - for example after Full Fact debunked a story about Reform UK leader
Nigel Farage being in hospital
.
But on each occasion it was possible to find very similar stories that did not have this warning attached.
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Many of the stories posted by these pages appeared to be designed to get attention from supporters of Farage, but not all were positive about him.
In some he was falsely depicted adopting dogs, donating his personal wealth to good causes, or welcoming a new baby.
But another showed him being arrested, complete with AI-generated photos of him in handcuffs.
Many of the posts appear to be intended to grab the attention of Reform supporters - though not all the fake stories are positive
The pages also feature other politicians including Sir Keir Starmer, falsely saying he had been taken ill on stage, sued over "election rigging" and removed as prime minister.
It was not always politicians – a wide range of celebrities could be seen inserted into some of the same made-up situations too.
Innes said pages like these were "driven by a profit imperative", and would "do anything where they think they can get eyeballs on their content if it will make them money".
Some of these posts appeared to get lots of likes, comments and shares, while others had almost none despite the pages' high follower counts.
Innes said we could not be sure whether all of the pages' thousands of followers were real people, adding page owners often used bots to "spoof the algorithm" and get content into people's feeds.
The comments section suggested not everyone who saw this content believed it.
Many expressed doubt or annoyance at the fake stories – but others did seem to be taken in by it.
When the BBC approached Meta with the examples found, the company removed se

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- The UK government's department for science, innovation and technology said the "potential for deepfakes to sow division, spread false information, and influence public opinion" was "well recognised".

### Areas for Consideration
- The risk is high enough for the Electoral Commission to get involved.
- Powell said he was "in favour of free speech" and freedom of expression but there was a problem when AI use led to "some people believing that it was fact and not parody".
- And certainly not AI used to belittle you." Baroness Carmen Smith, a Plaid Cymru peer, said: "Deepfakes seriously are a threat to democracy, but they are also a threat to many, many people whether that is your sister, your friend, your colleague. "We have to keep up to date with what developments are being made with AI tools... it's something that we do need to address and prioritise now." Rachel Millward, deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, said she had been subject to a "misogynistic deepfake" herself and called on the UK government to regulate the AI sector to prevent such content "undermining the legitimacy of future elections".

### Implications
- Overseas 'content farms' creating political deepfakes uncovered 2 days ago Share Save Ben Summer News Impact Share Save Getty Images Several pages based overseas are posting AI-assisted fake news about UK politics on social media Overseas "content farms" are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create social media posts about UK politics, an expert has warned.
- The warning, from Prof Martin Innes of Cardiff University, comes as the Electoral Commission is developing software to spot and combat deepfakes ahead of the Welsh and Scottish parliaments' elections in May.
- Some are silly, but others could potentially damage reputations.
- Although they featured some real news stories, a large amount of their content could be easily proven false.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers pages, deepfakes, fake topics. Notable strengths include discussion of pages. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1881.