{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0330","record_version":1,"title":"Racist AI-generated Facebook posts make Sri Lankan influencer rich","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":42.3,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":7.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":0.0,"completeness":2.88,"unhedged_language":4.17},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true,"eligible":true,"about_this_case":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-01","extraction_run_id":null,"evidence_level":{"level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change","original_document":null,"reports_total":1,"reports_independent":0,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":false,"disputed":false,"rules_version":"evidence-2026-10-29.1","computed_at":"2026-11-01","history":[{"date":"2026-11-01","from_level":null,"to_level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change"}]},"sources_hash":"84c741e34f1e364ea217225d47f4fe73d8ea381e9867a4583d74bc3a0b25a600"},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"unknown","harness":null,"tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"unknown","tier":null,"lifecycle_stage":null,"integration_type":null,"intended_use":null,"safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":null,"date_disclosed":"2025-11-16","incident_class":"harmful_output","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"third_party","summary":"A Sri Lanka-based influencer, Geeth Sooriyapura, ran a network of 128 Facebook pages and groups targeting UK audiences, with a combined following of 1.6m users. The pages posted racist, Islamophobic and anti-migrant content, much of it AI-generated, including AI images and videos of UK politicians. He said he earned $300,000 from the pages and taught students to do the same, with the pages monetised through Meta's in-stream ads, subscriptions and performance bonuses. A joint investigation by TBIJ, ISD and the Times identified the network. Meta said it removed pages flagged by TBIJ that violated its policies on inauthentic behaviour, and it disputes how lucrative the pages were.","tags":[],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":null,"root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":null,"adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":"Meta removed the pages flagged by TBIJ that violated its policies on inauthentic behaviour","precursor_events":null},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"moderate","severity_because":"Test: moderate, data or systems of others touched with a bounded scope stated. Fact: the network's 128 pages and groups target UK audiences with a stated combined following of 1.6m users.","harm_class":[],"affected_description":"128 Facebook pages and groups targeting UK audiences, with a combined following of 1.6m users","protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025-11-16/king-of-slop-how-anti-migrant-ai-content-made-one-sri-lankan-influencer-rich","publisher":"TBIJ","date":"2025-11-16","type":"press","title":"How racist AI Facebook posts made one Sri Lankan influencer rich - TBIJ","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"}],"per_field_confidence":{"event.detection_method":"C","event.remediation":"C","impact.affected_description":"C","event.incident_class":"D","impact.severity":"D","impact.severity_because":"D","event.summary":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","system.deployment_context":"D","event.trigger":"D","context.country":"D","system.developer":"D","event.date_disclosed":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"event.detection_method":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"A joint investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) and the Times reveals that the self-proclaimed “Facebook ads king” gets paid to teach others the secrets of his success, promising that they too can turn Facebook into a “money bank”."}],"event.remediation":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Meta said it removed the pages flagged by TBIJ that violated its policies on inauthentic behaviour."}],"impact.affected_description":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"In total, TBIJ and ISD found 128 Facebook pages and groups targeting UK audiences – with a combined following of 1.6m users – linked to Sooriyapura and his students."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"He claims to have made his money – $300,000 of it – by running Facebook pages, including some which push racist, Islamophobic and anti-migrant posts aimed at British audiences."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"In total, TBIJ and ISD found 128 Facebook pages and groups targeting UK audiences – with a combined following of 1.6m users – linked to Sooriyapura and his students."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"In total, TBIJ and ISD found 128 Facebook pages and groups targeting UK audiences – with a combined following of 1.6m users – linked to Sooriyapura and his students."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"He claims to have made his money – $300,000 of it – by running Facebook pages, including some which push racist, Islamophobic and anti-migrant posts aimed at British audiences."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"In total, TBIJ and ISD found 128 Facebook pages and groups targeting UK audiences – with a combined following of 1.6m users – linked to Sooriyapura and his students."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"He says he makes money through Meta’s “in-stream ads” programme, which allows advertisers to place adverts before, during or after videos, and between short-form reels."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The pages have also shared multiple AI-generated images and videos of fake mass protests calling for the mayor of London and prime minister to resign."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Meta said it removed the pages flagged by TBIJ that violated its policies on inauthentic behaviour."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Meta disputes how lucrative the pages in the network were."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"The sources describe a monetised content network run by a person in Sri Lanka, not an autonomous AI agent, so event.agent_involved, failure_class and trigger are omitted. No AI model, developer or harness is named for the content tools; system fields are omitted. The incident year is not stated (only March), so no full date is given. The source header date 2025-11-16 is not in the body text and is not used as a disclosure date. The $300,000 figure and the 1.6m following are claims or follower counts, not verified loss or affected-party counts, so no loss or affected-party count is recorded. Meta disputes how lucrative the pages were. Severity 'moderate' is my judgement under the bounded-scope test. No controls are linked because the sources do not say which controls held, failed or were missing. No remediation is recorded with control IDs because Meta's removal does not map to a listed control without inference. [case created by the backfill: read by claude-haiku-5-5, backfill-2026-11-01.2, 2026-11-01; not yet reviewed] [2026-11-01: evidence level set: Preliminary (Publisher not yet named · subject to change)]"},"context":{"industry":null,"org_size_band":null,"country":"unknown","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null}}