Far right How bots and AI are fuelling resurgence

Less than three hours after the stabbing attack on Monday that led to the death of three children, an Al-generated image was shared on X by an account called Europe Invasion.

- Ben Quinn , Dan Milmo

It depicted bearded men in traditional Muslim dress outside parliament, one waving a knife, behind a crying child in a union flag T-shirt. The tweet, which has since been viewed 900,000 times, was captioned: "We must protect our children!" It was shared by one of the most potent accounts for misinformation about the Southport stabbings.

AI technology has been used in other ways, including on an antiimmigration Facebook group which illustrated a call to attend a rally in Middlesbrough by generating an image of a large crowd gathered at the town's cenotaph.

Platforms such as Suno, which employs AI to generate music complete with vocals and instruments, have been used to create online songs combining references to Southport with xenophobic content. Titles include Southport Saga, featuring an AI female voice singing lyrics such as "hunt them down somehow".

Experts have warned about these new tools for organising. Britain's fractured far right exploited the Southport stabbings to unify and rejuvenate its presence on the streets, and in a surge of activity not seen for years more than 10 protests are now being promoted across social media platforms such as X, TikTok and Facebook, following the recent violent disorder in the UK, from Southport and Hartlepool to London. Death threats against the prime minister, incitement to attack government property and extreme antisemitism were among comments published on the Telegram channel of one extreme-right outfit this week.