AI-Generated Urban Decline Videos Gain Traction on Social Media
An AI-generated video depicts a crowd of young men—predominantly black—wearing balaclavas and padded jackets, sliding down a water slide into a polluted swimming pool littered with debris. The caption claims this scene is from a taxpayer-funded water park in Croydon.
This video is part of a surge of deepfakes presenting often exaggerated or absurd depictions of urban decay, frequently set in the same south London neighborhood. Numerous copycat accounts have emerged, producing similar content that has collectively amassed millions of views across TikTok and Instagram Reels.
These fabricated videos contribute to a broader trend where online influencers and content creators portray Western cities such as London, Manchester, San Francisco, and New York as overwhelmed by immigrants and crime.
This phenomenon has been termed "decline porn." These narratives—often exaggerated, fabricated, or satirical—are inciting anger and racist backlash among viewers who interpret them as factual.
The BBC traced the creator of the Croydon AI videos for the podcast Top Comment, which explores the stories behind social media content. The investigation revealed a new type of online content creator who thrives on engagement and dismisses responsibility for how their content may fuel divisive political narratives.
The stigma around sharing fake content appears to have diminished significantly.
"If people saw it and they immediately knew it was fake, then they would just scroll. The selling point of generative AI models is that they look real,"the creator, who uses the online handle RadialB, told the BBC over the phone. He declined to share his real name but disclosed he is in his 20s and from the north-west of England. He has never visited Croydon.
RadialB stated he did not anticipate inspiring copycats or provoking political controversy. He described his content as intended to be humorous, but also designed to convince viewers that the scenes are real to capture their attention.
He explained that the creation of AI-generated water parks, zoos, and aquariums in Croydon was "just part of the progression of things getting more and more funny or absurd." Several of his videos "blew up" due to their graphic nature, including depictions of people flying off slides.
The young men featured in his videos are described as "roadmen," a slang term for urban youth often associated with drug dealing. RadialB considers them "cultural archetypes" frequently appearing in his videos. One post showing roadmen in Parliament reportedly received eight million views in a single day.
When questioned about racist reactions his videos sometimes provoke, RadialB acknowledged the issue:
"I don't deny it,"but added that
"comments get filtered,"indicating that social media platforms remove racist remarks. TikTok, Instagram, and X maintain policies prohibiting racist abuse.
RadialB said that when generating AI content, he does not intend to depict individuals of a specific race or ethnicity, but uses the prompt "roadmen wearing puffer jackets, track suits, and balaclavas" because it creates the "funniest" characters.
Although he denies political motives, his videos often portray absurd "taxpayer-funded" facilities. He commented:
"English politics is a bit of a parasitic cesspit"and suggested
"we replace them all with roadmen."
Several videos include small labels indicating they are "AI-generated" or contain "synthetic media," complying with TikTok, Instagram, and X policies on AI content. However, some commenters reported being genuinely convinced by the posts.
RadialB acknowledged that the videos elicit political reactions:
"I could put stuff up and there would be like 50-year-olds and 60-year-olds in the comments raging and saying all this political stuff."He suggested some comments might be ironic.
Other users have criticized this wave of AI-generated videos as perpetuating unfair racial stereotypes of their neighborhoods. A black TikTok user from Croydon, known as C.Tino, posted a response stating the trend falsely portrays the area as "ghetto."
"These videos are making people think this is real life. It's becoming out of hand now,"he said.
Distorting Reality Through AI Tools
RadialB attributed his ability to create this content to the significant advancements in the quality and accessibility of AI tools, which he said "hugely lowers the barrier for entry" for anyone wishing to produce "fake stuff."
He believes many accounts resharing his posts do so to gain views and clicks, aiming to monetize the content on other platforms such as Facebook.
Users from as far as Israel and Brazil reported sharing the videos because they "got engagement" or to "join in on the trend." Several accounts posting in Arabic, apparently based in the Middle East, have also shared multiple videos depicting London as being in decline, including those set in Croydon.
The author also identified several TikTok profiles purporting to be British news outlets that exclusively share AI-generated videos about London or other negative content about UK and US cities.
These deepfakes align with an existing trend of videos portraying European and American cities as deteriorating due to crime and immigration. While some videos show real instances of phone-snatching, homelessness, graffiti, or drug issues, they often omit broader context.
Increasingly, AI is used to distort reality.
South African YouTuber Kurt Caz has amassed over four million rs by posting travel videos with titles such as "Attacked by thieves in Barcelona!" and "Threatened in the UK's worst town!"
After releasing a recent video titled "Avoid this place in London," he was accused of using AI to manipulate the thumbnail to reinforce his depiction of London as one of "the most messed up cities" he has visited.
The thumbnail showed a man on a bike wearing a balaclava, standing in front of shop signs featuring Arabic text.
However, in the video itself, the signs on Croydon's North End are in English, the cyclist is not wearing a balaclava, and Caz is seen giving him a thumbs-up after a friendly conversation.
On X, Kurt Caz dismissed criticism of the thumbnail as "clickbait" and stated,
"if you're going to do a hit piece on me do it properly."
High-Profile Endorsement of Decline Narratives
Ideas of decline in the UK and Europe have been embraced by influential figures, including Elon Musk, owner of X, Tesla, and SpaceX, who spoke at far-right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally last year.
Musk stated:
"What I see happening is a destruction of Britain. Initially a slow erosion, but a rapidly increasing erosion of Britain with massive uncontrolled migration,"a topic he frequently discusses on his X profile, which has over 230 million followers.
While legitimate debates exist regarding immigration and crime, much of this content extends beyond available evidence.
In January, pollster YouGov released data indicating that a majority of Britons believe London is unsafe, but only a third of London residents agreed, with 81% stating their local area was safe.
RadialB insists his goal was never to become a "decline porn" influencer but to make people laugh through a form of "artform" that exploits recommendation algorithms. He appears to disclaim responsibility for how his content is used or replicated.
His TikTok account was banned for sharing content flagged as graphic or inappropriate, but he has since created a new account posting similar videos featuring "roadmen" at grimy "infinity pools" and "taxpayer-funded buffets."
