Fake crime videos popular on Facebook
Psychologically, what would be the benefit of posting a lot of very convincing AI videos of fake crime incidents in Quebec on Facebook? Convince people we need more law and order? Or just keep people more scared of each other, and generally cowed?
MarcG 10:19 on 2026-06-11 Permalink
It wouldn’t surprise me if it was either a) some random person with no political agenda who knows how to make money from social media, or b) one of Quebec’s far-right groups building support for their ideology through fearmongering, while also generating income to print their stickers, t-shirts, etc.
GC 12:17 on 2026-06-11 Permalink
Yeah, my guess would be a). CBC recently published a story about people overseas (mostly in India/Pakistan/etc.) who are very active in Alberta separatism groups on Facebook. They stir up antagonism. Not because they care one bit whether Alberta is in our out of Canada, but just because they’ve figured out how to work Meta’s monetization program to their own benefit. In that case, they were mostly copying other people’s content and reposting it. But, similar idea to let AI do the all the work.
Kevin 12:33 on 2026-06-11 Permalink
Digtial ad fraud is conservatively estimated at $100 billion per year — although some people say it’s closer to $250 billion.
The problem is that Meta, Google, and the other online giants make money both from people buying the ads, and from the people coming up with garbage to keep those (possibly fake) eyeballs on their sites, so they have absolute no interest in stopping the slop.
Joey 15:09 on 2026-06-11 Permalink
I think for a large proportion of the population (especially among older people, who spent most of their lives in a pre-Internet-all-the-time-in-your-pocket era), this is like by far pastime number one – watching the most obviously fake, xenophobic, racist, cortisol-spiking garbage known to man. We tear our hair out worrying about kids and screen time – what about baby boomers?