AI amplifies anti-Muslim hate in UK: Study

FOREIGN extremists are using arti­ficial intelligence and social media manipulation to fuel anti-Muslim hatred in Britain, with online incite­ment rapidly translating into real-world attacks on mosques and com­munities, new research revealed on Tuesday (10).

The Tell MAMA report warned how contemporary far-right extrem­ism is “no longer confined to domes­tic networks or isolated online eco­systems, but is increasingly shaped by transnational actors, foreign influence, and rapidly advancing dig­ital technologies”.

Titled The Risk of Foreign Influence on the UK Far-Right and Anti-Muslim Hate, the report found out that AI was used to generate racist imagery and propaganda, falsely depicting Mus­lims as violent and glorifying attacks on police and public infrastructure.

“Artificial intelligence is acting as a force multiplier for anti-Muslim hate, driven by international actors based in Russia,” said Iman Atta OBE, direc­tor of Tell MAMA, which measures and monitors anti-Muslim incidents across the country.

“It allows small extremist networks to appear larger, more credible and more threatening than they are.”

Researchers warned that current counter-terrorism frameworks, which “remain largely structured around domestic threat models”, cannot ade­quately respond to threats that are now “cross-platform, cross-border, and technologically fused”.

The report called for stronger regu­lation of AI-generated extremist con­tent, recognition of transnational on­line extremism in UK counter-terror­ism strategy, and increased protec­tion and support for Muslim commu­nities and places of worship.

Tell MAMA urged policymakers to “do more to address the risks of rac­ists and extremists using AI to spread fear, encourage violence and recruit”, alongside steps to improve social me­dia literacy skills in view of the rise in online disinformation targeting mi­nority communities.

The latest study centres on a far-right network called “Direct Action” that operated between September 2024 and early 2025, targeting British Muslim communities. The network offered £100 in cryptocurrency to an­yone who vandalised mosques with racist graffiti, successfully coordinat­ing attacks on mosques, community centres and a primary school in Lon­don and Manchester between Janu­ary and February 2025.

According to the study, social me­dia platforms were exploited, using purchased dormant accounts, bots, and hybrid “cyborg” accounts to cre­ate a false sense of domestic support. Researchers identified X (formerly Twitter) accounts created years earli­er that suddenly became active after the Southport stabbings in July 2024, spamming identical messages en­couraging violence.

While the true origins of the net­work remain unclear, investigators said they found “compelling” evi­dence of foreign involvement. The group’s main logo was copied direct from a defunct Russian hacktivist Tel­egram channel called “The Youth of the Saboteur”.

Messages contained tell-tale signs of non-native English speakers, in­cluding the pound symbol written backwards (2.500£ instead of £2,500), cities misspelt as “Glassgow” instead of Glasgow, and repetitive phrases like “discontented with politics and migrants” – phrasing more common in automated translation.

The network also used protest foot­age from Athens, Greece, filmed dur­ing 2011 anti-austerity demonstra­tions, falsely presenting it as UK unrest to encourage violence against police.

Researchers also identified AI-gen­erated images depicting Muslims as terrorists, fake footage of burning po­lice cars with misspelt text, and syn­thesised voices encouraging violence.

Videos combined real footage from the far-right riots following the South­port tragedy with AI-generated con­tent, falsely claiming the attacker was Muslim and using the sentiment to recruit supporters.

“Behind every online incitement post, propaganda video, and encrypt­ed message thread lies a real-world target: a mosque, a community cen­tre, a family, or an individual,” the re­port said. “The transition from online incitement to physical vandalism, ar­son threats, and terror tactics is not theoretical; it is already occurring.”