This week we spoke with The Bureau of Investigative Journalism's AI reporter, Effie Webb about the use of AI in the political sphere and what researchers/journalists can effectively report on AI misuse. Effie uncovered what some experts are calling a first-of-its-kind case—where a registered political party paid for content from an AI-generated influencer pushing ideological messaging.

The talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on April 16th 2026. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.

Recorded live in our Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcat

Links:

Effie Webb's original reporting: https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026-03-12/danny-bones-meet-the-ai-rapper-funded-by-a-far-right-party

Effie's follow up investigation on the cash in following her reporting: https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026-03-26/the-hate-economy-in-action-how-an-ai-rapper-tried-to-cash-in-on-our-coverage

Advance UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_UK

Bellingcat coverage of Indian political parties using AI-generated images to spread hate: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03/31/india-bjp-hate-speech-ai/?utm_source=rss

The Node Project website: https://www.thenodeproject.com/

On AI lego videos from Iran conflict: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/15/iran-beating-us-social-media-wars

AI generated band finding success on Spotify: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jul/14/an-ai-generated-band-got-1m-plays-on-spotify-now-music-insiders-say-listeners-should-be-warned

One of our previous talks on digital political influence campaigns: https://rss.com/podcasts/bellingcatstagetalk/2021916/

On AI and the first amendment: https://www.freedomforum.org/artificial-intelligence-first-amendment/

Bellingcat's Auto Archiver: https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2025/08/13/the-open-source-tool-that-has-preserved-150000-pieces-of-online-evidence/

Effie's contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/effie-webb-ab29941938

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