AI-generated content like deepfakes being used to push Alberta separatism

A variety of deepfakes and other AI-generated content are being used online to promote the idea of separatism in Alberta.

As reported by CBC News, accounts on platforms like X (Twitter) and TikTok are sharing AI material that encourages Albertans to vote in favour of separatism. One video that CBC News unpacks is from a TikTok account called “Alberta Radio Show.”

“This is our chance to secure our prosperity and protect our rights,” the person in the video emphatically states. But while the caption names the speaker as Leah, a University of Alberta student, the “woman” in question is actually a deepfake created by GrokAI. (Besides the general flat uncanniness in her mannerisms, the Alberta flag in the background visibly changes designs throughout the course of the video, the kind of hallucination that is common in AI.)

CBC News notes that the video has since been taken down on some platforms, but not before it racked up thousands of views. Other platforms, meanwhile, still have the video up with a “Made with AI” tag. And of course, this is just one of many examples of pro-separatism AI-generated content being shared online.

In a separate story, CBC News examined “the biggest Alberta separatist account on the internet.” This account, “The RiseOfAlberta account, was created in spring 2025 with the goal of “accelerating Alberta’s journey towards independence.” It now has almost 100,000 X followers, to which it posts incendiary AI-generated memes about Canada. In particular, the account has promoted common far-right rhetoric that immigrants are an “existential threat to Western civilization” and climate change is “fake and gay,” among other false and toxic beliefs.

And after investigating the origins of the account, CBC News found that the account has ties to Keith Wilson, a pro-separatist lawyer who leads the Alberta Transition Council. (Of course, it’s ironic that a so-called lawyer would even entertain separatism, given that it would violate numerous Indigenous treaties.)

But despite all this bluster, it should be noted that polls have consistently shown that the majority of Albertans want to remain in Canada. Per a September survey from Janet Brown Opinion Research, 72 per cent of Albertans said they’d vote against separatism, with four per cent saying they’re unsure.

All of this is to say: if you see a meme or video online that’s heavily promoting separatism, it could very well be AI slop from bad actors.

Alberta’s referendum to vote on various issues, including separatism, takes place on Oct. 19.

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