Network of X users smears politicians with deepfake clips

Several hours after they were originally shared, the doctored clips of Mr Streeting, Mr Akehurst and Sir Keir were labelled as fakes by X’s reader-operated fact check service, while X also applied a warning to the clip of Mr Akehurst saying it was “manipulated media”.

Following my investigation, the Men for Wes account has been suspended by X and the videos from its account are no longer visible on the site. Some of the other profiles also appear to have been removed.

This group of accounts regularly interact with one another, amplifying and engaging with each other’s posts in this way. Some appear to co-ordinate their posts on a Discord server – an instant messaging and chat community – which refers to them as a “Shitposting Army”.

Several of these X users post frequently about their concern for Palestinians in the war in Gaza, as well as posting in support of Jeremy Corbyn and left-leaning Labour politicians. At least two of the people who appear to be behind some of the accounts seem to be based in the UK and in their twenties and thirties.

The Men for Wes account declined my request to speak on the phone several times and declined to disclose their identity, but agreed to answer my questions by messaging.

They said they aimed to provoke attention and “muddy the water” for viewers. They described this as a “corrective” to the ways that politicians “misrepresent who they really are” and rejected allegations they were a threat to democracy. They condemned any hate directed at politicians shared by other accounts.