Advance UK secretly uses fake AI influencer to post anti‑immigrant content

Political party Advance UK secretly paid an anonymous AI collective to produce an online political campaign featuring "Danny Bones," an AI-generated rapper who promotes nationalist and anti-immigrant sentiment, potentially deceiving voters and normalising "slopaganda" in democratic processes. What happened UK right-wing political party Advance UK covertly used an AI-generated rapper and online influencer "Danny Bones" to reach voters during the UK's Gorton and Denton by-election - one of the first documented cases of a registered UK political party paying for content from an AI influencer that peddles extremist rhetoric. In the weeks before the party contested the by-election, Advance UK paid pseudonymous AI collaborative Node Project to produce its main campaign video - a two-minute film that has since been viewed nearly a quarter of a million times, according to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ). The film was also posted on Advance UK's official website as its flagship political video. An AI-generated persona, Danny Bones' rap tracks have garnered more than 375,000 Spotify and YouTube streams, and his song videos viewed nearly three million times on YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok. Why it happened The incident was driven by the low cost and high viral potential of generative AI, which allows fringe political actors to create "astroturfed" movements that appear to have organic cultural support. A lack of transparency and accountability in the AI production chain, specifically the anonymity of the "Node Project", allowed the party to distance itself from the extremist lyrics of the AI rapper while benefiting from its reach. Furthermore, a number of social media platforms initially failed to identify the content as synthetic, allowing it to bypass political advertising disclosures. What it means For those directly impacted, particularly immigrant communities targeted by the AI’s lyrics, the incident represents a new frontier in automated harassment a nd xenophobia. For society, it signals a "dead internet" scenario where political discourse is flooded with "slopaganda": low-quality, AI-generated propaganda designed to manipulate emotions rather than engage in factual debate. Policymakers now face urgent pressure to update electoral laws to require the explicit labeling of AI-generated political avatars. System 🤖 Danny Bones (AI persona) Developer: Node Project Country: UK Sector: Politics Purpose: Manipulate public opinion Technology: Generative AI Issue: Accountability; Transparency Timeline ⏰ Late January 2026. The AI rapper "Danny Bones" releases the song Shut Up , featuring conspiracy theories about immigration. February 2026. Advance UK pays the Node Project for a campaign video for the Gorton and Denton by-election. TikTok and Instagram ban several Node Project accounts for violating their policies, though content continues to circulate. March 12, 2026. TBIJ publishes exposé revealing the link between Advance UK and Node Project. Investigations, assessments, audits 👁️ The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Meet the AI Rapper Funded by a Far-right Party

Date it happened

2026-02-01

Organisation involved

Advance UK

Product, system or model

Danny Bones

This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.