YouTube channels spreading fake, anti-Labour videos have amassed more than a billion views this year, as opportunists attempt to use AI-generated content to profit from political division in the UK.

More than 150 channels have been detected in the last year that promote anti-Labour narratives, as well as outright fake and inflammatory accusations about Keir Starmer.

A study seen by the Guardian has found the channels have accumulated 5.3m subscribers and have created more than 56,000 videos, with a total of almost 1.2bn views in 2025. The network of anonymous channels includes alarmist rhetoric, AI scripts and British narrators to attract hits.

Starmer is personally targeted. The prime minister was either named in the video title or description 15,600 times.

Reset Tech, the non-profit group that produced the research, said the channels were part of a global trend to produce synthetic propaganda on the platform. It pointed to the proliferation of cheap AI tools that could be deployed to make a quick profit from divisive topics.

One channel called Britain News-night talked about Starmer and Reeves facing arrest. Another, TheUKPoliticalBrief, touted videos on the “explosive truth” about immigrant crime and marches on Westminster.

The UK NewsCore channel focused on how Nigel Farage was ousting Starmer, and claimed the prime minister was “sacked live” and thrown out of parliament.

Other videos featured bizarre, fabricated stories about a row between the royal family and the government. One channel, Gold Up!, said the dispute had left Starmer “melting down on live TV”.

Some of the videos and channels were removed by YouTube’s checks. However, all 150 were taken down when the platform was approached by the Guardian. Reset Tech said some channels had created tens or hundreds of similar videos without being deplatformed.

The research found similar channels operating in German, French, Spanish and Polish, targeting other politicians or political issues. In total, it mapped 420 problematic channels operating in Europe. Reset Tech said Russian-speaking creators operate some of the channels.

It is believed channels aimed at the UK were being driven by opportunistic creators trying to monetise political division over issues like immigration, rather than overseas political actors. However, it said their presence still posed a risk to public trust.

The content has caused concern inside Labour. “The rise of fake news online is a serious threat to our democracy,” a spokesperson said. “The public will be rightly alarmed that democratically elected leaders and institutions are being undermined by bad faith foreign state actors and those seeking to profit from misinformation.

“We’ve already seen attempts from overseas to influence fair elections and manipulate public opinion both here and abroad.

“The government is stepping up its efforts to work with online platforms to tackle this scourge on free and fair democracy. But it’s important that tech bosses take this threat seriously and live up to their obligations to remove this type of content wherever it’s found.”

Dylan Sparks, UK director of Reset Tech, called for YouTube to take swifter action. “Malicious actors are permitted by YouTube to spread synthetic ‘news’ that disrupts political debate in the UK, while also earning revenue from it,” he said. “This AI-generated, low cost content spreads across the platform undetected, revealing clear weaknesses in YouTube’s monetisation and content moderation systems.

“This specific network focuses on the prime minister and Labour government, but the same loopholes could be exploited by any hostile actor to push an agenda. Because social media platforms profit from engagement, their business model creates an in-built tension between enforcing their own policies and reducing the spread of malicious content that drives revenue.

“The rapid spread of AI has also introduced new risks to the online environment, and platforms need to move faster and invest more to address them.”

A YouTube spokesperson said: “Spam and deceptive practices that try to take advantage of the YouTube community are not allowed on the platform, which is why the channels flagged by the Guardian have all been removed.

“We enforce our policies consistently, regardless of political viewpoint expressed, or how the content is generated. Our teams work around the clock to monitor for harmful content, taking swift action as needed.”

YouTube is now working with Reset Tech over its findings. The platform said its systems prominently feature authoritative news content on the YouTube homepage, in search results, and through recommendations. It has removed more than 2.1m channels for violating its community guidelines.

Ministers have already formed an online advertising taskforce to see what action can be taken to address the advertising-based monetisation of harmful and misleading content.