YouTube channels spreading fake anti-Labor videos have racked up more than a billion views this year, as opportunists seek to use AI-generated content to profit from Britain's political divide.
Last year, more than 150 channels were detected promoting anti-Labour rhetoric and outright fabrications and inflammatory accusations about Keir Starmer.
A study seen by the Guardian found that these channels have 5.3 million subscribers, have created more than 56,000 videos, and will reach a total of around 1.2 billion views by 2025. The network of anonymous channels includes alarmist rhetoric, AI scripts, and British narrators to garner hits.
Starmer is being targeted personally. The Prime Minister's name was included in the video title or description 15,600 times.
Reset Tech, the nonprofit organization that conducted the study, said these channels are part of a global trend of producing synthetic propaganda on platforms. It pointed to the proliferation of cheap AI tools that can be deployed to make quick profits from divisive topics.
The British Newsnight channel talked about the possibility of Starmer and Reeves being arrested. Another, TheUKPoliticalBrief, promoted a video about “explosive truths” about immigrant crime and the Westminster marches.
Britain's NewsCore channel highlighted how Nigel Farage ousted Starmer, claiming the prime minister was “sacked live” and expelled from parliament.
Other videos featured bizarre and fabricated stories about spat between the royal family and the government. One channel, Gold Up!, reported that the controversy had left Mr Starmer “melting down on live TV”.
Some videos and channels have been removed by YouTube checks. But when The Guardian approached the platform, all 150 had been removed. According to Reset Tech, some channels created dozens or even hundreds of similar videos without being deplatformed.
The investigation found similar channels were active in German, French, Spanish and Polish, targeting other politicians and political issues. In total, we mapped 420 problematic channels operating in Europe. Some channels are run by Russian-speaking creators, Reset Tech said.
The UK-targeted channels are believed to have been run by opportunistic creators seeking to monetize political divisions over issues such as immigration, rather than foreign political actors. However, he said their presence still poses a risk to public trust.
This content has caused concern within the Labor Party. “The rise of fake news online is a serious threat to our democracy,” the spokesperson said. “The public will be rightly alarmed that democratically elected leaders and institutions are being undermined by malicious foreign state actors and those who seek to profit from misinformation.
“We have already seen foreign attempts at home and abroad to influence fair elections and manipulate public opinion.
“The government is stepping up its efforts to work with online platforms to address this blight on a free and fair democracy. But it is important that the heads of technology companies take this threat seriously and fulfill their obligations to remove this type of content wherever it is found.”
Dylan Sparks, director of Reset Tech UK, called on YouTube to respond more quickly. He said: “Malicious actors are being allowed by YouTube to spread synthetic 'news' that disrupts the UK's political debate, while also profiting from it.” “This low-cost, AI-generated content is spreading undetected across the platform, exposing glaring weaknesses in YouTube’s monetization and content moderation systems.
“Although this particular network is focused on the Prime Minister and the Labor Government, the same loopholes could be exploited by hostile actors to advance their agendas. As social media platforms profit from engagement, their business model creates a built-in tension between enforcing their own policies and reducing the spread of malicious content that drives revenue.”
“The rapid proliferation of AI is also introducing new risks to the online environment, requiring platforms to move faster and invest more to address them.”
A YouTube spokesperson said: “Spam and deceptive behavior that seeks to exploit the YouTube community has no place on our platform. As a result, all channels flagged by the Guardian have been removed.”
“We consistently enforce our policies regardless of the political views expressed or how the content is generated. Our teams work around the clock to monitor harmful content and take swift action when necessary.”
YouTube is currently working with Reset Tech regarding the findings. The platform says its systems prominently display authoritative news content across YouTube's homepage, search results, and recommendations. More than 2.1 million channels have been removed for violating community guidelines.
Ministers have already formed an Online Advertising Taskforce to consider what steps can be taken to tackle ad-based monetization of harmful and misleading content.
