Why fake AI videos of UK urban decline are taking over social media

These fabricated videos are part of a broader trend where online influencers and content creators depict Western cities like London, Manchester, San Francisco, and New York as overwhelmed by immigrants and crime. This phenomenon has been dubbed "decline porn." These narratives, often exaggerated or entirely fabricated, and sometimes overtly satirical, are igniting anger and racist backlash among viewers who accept them as factual.

The BBC, for its new podcast Top Comment, which delves into the stories behind our social media feeds, tracked down the originator of these AI-generated Croydon videos. The investigation revealed a new breed of online faker who capitalizes on engagement and shirks responsibility for the divisive political narratives their content can foster. The shame associated with sharing fabricated content appears to have completely dissipated.

The creator, operating under the online handle RadialB, claims he never anticipated spawning imitators or engaging in political provocation. He asserts his content is intended to be humorous, yet he also desires viewers to believe his fabricated scenes are real to capture their attention. "If people saw it and they immediately knew it was fake, then they would just scroll. The selling point of generative AI models is that they look real," RadialB explained during a phone conversation. He declined to reveal his real name, but stated he is in his twenties and from the North West of England, having never visited Croydon.

He described the creation of the AI water park, zoo, and aquarium in Croydon as "just part of the progression of things getting more and more funny or absurd." He noted that several of his videos "blew up" due to their graphic nature, showing people falling off slides. RadialB identified the young men in his videos as "roadmen," a slang term for urban youth often associated with drug dealing, characterizing them as "cultural archetypes" he frequently features. He mentioned one post, depicting roadmen in Parliament, garnered eight million views in a single day.

When questioned about the racism sometimes evident in his videos’ comments, he responded, "I don’t deny it," but added that "comments get filtered," implying social media platforms remove racist remarks. TikTok, Instagram, and X all have policies against racist abuse. RadialB maintains that when generating AI content, he doesn’t intend for the depicted individuals to belong to a specific race or ethnicity, but rather uses the prompt "roadmen wearing puffer jackets, track suits, and balaclavas" because it produces the "funniest" characters.

While disavowing any political intent, his videos portray absurd "taxpayer-funded" facilities. He expressed his view that "English politics is a bit of a parasitic cesspit" and suggested "we replace them all with roadmen." Several of his videos include small labels indicating they are "AI-generated" or contain "synthetic media," adhering to TikTok, Instagram, and X’s policies on AI media. However, some commenters indicated they had been genuinely convinced by the posts. RadialB acknowledged that his videos elicit political reactions, stating, "I could put stuff up and there would be like 50-year-olds and 60-year-olds in the comments raging and saying all this political stuff." He also suggested some of these comments might be ironic.

Other users have voiced objections to this influx of AI-generated "slop" videos, viewing them as an unfair racial stereotype of their neighborhood. C.Tino, a Black TikTok user from Croydon, posted a response, arguing that the trend falsely portrayed the area as "ghetto." "These videos are making people think this is real life. It’s becoming out of hand now," he stated.

RadialB attributes his ability to create this content to the "huge jump" in the quality and accessibility of AI tools, which "hugely lowers the barrier for entry" for anyone wanting to create "fake stuff." He believes many accounts re-sharing his posts do so for views and clicks, aiming to monetize the content on other platforms like Facebook. Users from as far afield as Israel and Brazil reported sharing the videos because they "got engagement" or to "join in on the trend." Several other accounts, seemingly based in the Middle East and posting in Arabic, have also shared multiple videos about London’s perceived decline, including those set in Croydon. The investigation also uncovered several TikTok profiles posing as British news accounts, exclusively sharing AI-generated videos about London or other negative content concerning UK and US cities.

These deepfakes align with an existing trend of videos portraying European and American cities as succumbing to urban decay due to crime and immigration. While some videos showcase real instances of phone-snatching, homelessness, graffiti, or drug problems, they often omit crucial context. Increasingly, however, AI is employed to distort reality.

South African YouTuber Kurt Caz has amassed an audience of over four million subscribers by posting travel videos with titles such as "Attacked by thieves in Barcelona!" and "Threatened in the UK’s worst town!" However, following a recent video titled "Avoid this place in London," he faced accusations of using AI to doctor the thumbnail, thereby bolstering his portrayal of the UK capital as one of "the most messed up cities" he has ever visited. The manipulated thumbnail depicted a man on a bike wearing a balaclava, in front of shop signs written in Arabic. In the actual video, however, the signs on Croydon’s North End are in English, the cyclist is barefaced, and Caz is seen giving him a thumbs-up after a friendly exchange. On X, Kurt Caz dismissed criticism of the thumbnail as "clickbait," stating, "if you’re going to do a hit piece on me do it properly."

These narratives of British and European decline have also been amplified by high-profile figures, including Elon Musk, owner of X, Tesla, and SpaceX. Musk, who spoke at far-right activist Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom rally last year, has frequently posted about this issue on his X profile, which boasts over 230 million followers. He stated, "What I see happening is a destruction of Britain. Initially a slow erosion, but a rapidly increasing erosion of Britain with massive uncontrolled migration."

While legitimate discussions about immigration and crime are valid, a significant portion of this content goes beyond available evidence. In January, pollster YouGov released data indicating that a majority of Britons now perceive London as unsafe. However, only a third of those surveyed in the capital shared this view, with 81% stating their own local area was safe. RadialB, however, maintains his intention was not to become a "decline porn" influencer but rather to make people laugh with a form of "artform" that exploits recommendation systems. He appears to absolve himself of responsibility for how his content might be used or replicated.

His account on TikTok was banned for sharing content deemed graphic or inappropriate, he claims. He has since established a new account featuring similar videos, showcasing "roadmen" at unhygienic "infinity pools" and "taxpayer-funded buffets."