Mayor warns of London 'disinformation blizzard'

Mayor warns of London 'disinformation blizzard'18 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJames W KellyLondonGetty ImagesThe London mayor has called for the government to be tougher on tech firmsSir Sadiq Khan has warned London is facing a "dark blizzard of disinformation" online, accusing social media companies of allowing organised networks to profit from a "division dividend".Speaking on Thursday, the mayor cited new City Hall research suggesting hostile actors, including foreign states and far-right groups, are portraying the capital as a city in decline.He said disinformation had become an industry, driven by an "outrage economy" that allows people to profit from division.BBC News contacted major social media platforms for a response. TikTok and Meta said they remove coordinated inauthentic behaviour, while Telegram said it removes calls to violence when identified.The analysis commissioned by the Greater London Authority (GLA) found there had been a sharp rise in narratives framing London as a "fallen city" where crime goes unpunished and "basic decency has all but disappeared". Between March 2024 and March 2026, online activity describing the capital as a dangerous city in decline increased by between 150 and 200%, while migration-related narratives referencing London surged by more than 350%, the report said. These trends emerged despite the mayor's assertion that London's per capita homicide rate has fallen to its lowest level on record.The research identified coordinated efforts by UK-based extreme right-wing groups, alongside accounts aligned with Russian or Chinese state interests and US-related political movements, to amplify these claims. One network identified in the study, based in Vietnam, used AI-generated imagery and the impersonation of local media outlets to spread emotive content to more than one million followers.One TikTok page's fake videos portray grimy Croydon w...