Fake adverts, posts and a video claiming to be from City of York Council have been highlighted in a new national study on misinformation.
The deepfakes, including one depicting a senior councillor handing out money to people in balaclavas, have featured in new research from the Social Market Foundation.
Cllr Pete Kilbane, the council’s Labour culture and economy spokesperson targeted in the video and other posts, said it sadly showed there was an avalanche of fake news online.
Jamie Gollings, co-author of the No News is Bad News study, said misinformation circulating locally had gone under the radar for too long and communities could not afford further inaction.
The study, published on Monday, June 8 with BBC backing, follows fake York Council adverts circulating on social media in January, in the run up to a by-election Heworth.
They purported to be from the council and falsely called for volunteers to remove flags attached to lampposts, to house asylum seekers and fill potholes.
Real phone numbers and emails featured in the posters which asked people to contact the council, though the initiatives depicted in them were not real.
But they later received coverage from right-wing internet personalities who produced videos presenting them as real, including one which had around 116,000 views.
Cllr Kilbane, who was the council’s deputy leader when St George’s and Union flags were attached to lampposts from summer 2025 onwards, was also personally targeted.
Posts with fake quotations claiming to be from Cllr Kilbane and an AI-generated video showing him handing out money to people in balaclavas to remove flags were circulated online.
They came after Cllr Kilbane had spoken out about the flag campaigns and clean-up costs and the study quoted council officials who said the posts deliberately aimed to mislead people.
Officials added social media accounts appeared to be bots shared much of the content and the timing of posts could suggest they were co-ordinated to undermine trust in local institutions.
Social Market Foundation research found the proportion of misinformation as a share of all social media posts grew to 26 per cent during local election periods.
The share could reach as high as 56 per cent in the run up to polling day compared to earlier in the year.
The Social Market Foundation has called for more resources to be given to local media and for the Government to invest in a public misinformation campaign.
They also said broadcasting watchdog Ofcom should monitor how well platforms tackle fake news and social media platforms should label trusted information sources and AI-generated content.
City of York Council culture and economy executive member Cllr Kilbane said fake news was worryingly being spread by people trying to undermine trust in each other and in democracy.
The executive member said: “Sadly this report confirms our experience in York is the same as the rest of the country, misinformation is rife on social media.
“With an avalanche of fake news out there, professional news gathering, scrutiny and reporting has never been more important.”
Social Market Foundation researcher Mr Gollings said the study had revealed the true scale of fake news on social media for the first time.
He said: “Local misinformation is the silent killer of trust in Britain.
“We cannot afford further erosion of local journalism, which is our best defence against local misinformation.”
