Scroll through any British Facebook feed and you'll find accounts like 'Britain Today'—complete with union jack profile pictures and vague, patriotic branding. These pages pump out AI-generated videos claiming local cafes stopped serving pork to avoid offending Muslims, sepia-toned nostalgia for Victorian London when things were supposedly better, and memes promoting replacement theory and explicit anti-Islam rhetoric. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism spent seven months investigating who runs these operations. Their findings reveal a cottage industry with zero ideological commitment—just pure monetization incentive.

Who Is Actually Running These Pages

The creators behind Britain's most toxic AI slop aren't British nationalists at all. Investigators found young, entrepreneurial men from Pakistan and Sri Lanka operating hundreds of accounts. One Pakistani creator—a devout Muslim who asked not to be named for his safety—ran Islamophobic content alongside personal accounts sharing Qur'an verses. He had zero genuine interest in UK politics but understood exactly what emotional triggers would drive engagement among British audiences. The Sri Lankan operator, Geeth Sooriyapura, claimed 2,500 students have graduated from his content academy teaching Facebook monetization tactics to fellow Sri Lankans.

Following the Money Trail

The financial incentives are staggering for creators operating from the global south where average incomes are a fraction of Western levels. Meta's ad revenue sharing model rewards high-performing content with direct payments—creating a perverse incentive structure that amplifies rage bait. The Pakistani creator claimed he makes $1,500 per month from just one page. Sooriyapura went further, stating he pocketed $300,000 over his Facebook career. While these figures couldn't be independently verified, both men were clearly earning multiples of typical salaries in their home countries. This represents the seductive promise of 'passive income' culture: quit your job, make easy money online, sell courses to others wanting to follow your path.

AI as the Great Equalizer

Generative AI tools have democratized hate content creation at industrial scale. In one video from Sooriyapura's course, he told students that AI-generated videos can go viral up to 10 times faster than traditional content. These tools are deployed at every stage: brainstorming trending topics, writing inflammatory captions, and most critically, generating compelling images and videos. For creators who don't speak English fluently, AI bridges the gap—allowing them to target specific Western demographics with precision while remaining operationally distant from their actual audience.

Meta's Moderation Retreat

Two structural factors have enabled this explosion of racist slop. First is the wide availability of generative AI tools. Second—and perhaps more damning—is Meta's systematic retreat from content moderation. Trust and safety teams have suffered mass redundancies across major platforms over the past couple years, partly driven by Trump administration pressure claiming platforms engaged in heavy-handed censorship during the Biden presidency. Companies justify these cuts by pointing to AI-powered content detection systems. But as TBIJ demonstrated, any reporter could find oceans of deeply offensive material within minutes using basic search techniques. Meta's response after being contacted? A one-line statement and removal of specific accounts—yet the Sri Lanka network was back operating within days with minimal consequences.

Key Takeaways

  • Racist AI slop operations are run by South Asian entrepreneurs pursuing profit, not ideology
  • Creators can earn $1,500+/month from single pages in regions where average incomes are far lower
  • Meta's ad revenue sharing model financially rewards inflammatory content that provokes extreme emotions
  • Content academy operators teach techniques to thousands of students seeking passive income

The Bottom Line

Meta will never solve this problem because its core product—an algorithmic feed optimized for engagement—actively incentivizes exactly this behavior. As long as the platform rewards emotional provocation with dollars, entrepreneurs from anywhere in the world will fill that demand. Regulation and content moderation are band-aids on a hemorrhage; the business model itself is the disease.