Row over ‘Jimmy Savile’ banner images in Makerfield by-election - were pictures shared online…

Ahead of the 2026 Makerfield by-election, an online dispute emerged regarding two contradictory images circulating on social media. The incident highlighted the challenges of verifying digital content during a fast-paced political campaign, as public figures inadvertently amplified manipulated media.

What happened

The controversy began when an image circulated showing individuals with campaign material for Reform candidate Rob Kenyon alongside a man holding a sign referencing Jimmy Savile. Subsequently, a second image appeared, showing the same man holding a banner featuring Mr. Kenyon’s face instead of the Savile reference. This second image was shared by Reform MP Lee Anderson and the North Liverpool branch of Reform, who presented it as the "original" and accused others of spreading a "fake version."

However, an analysis by Dr. Siwei Lyu, an expert in digital media forensics, concluded that the second image was AI-altered. Dr. Lyu noted that the central campaign banner had been synthetically replaced, pointing to generative artifacts in the surrounding signage, such as blurred logos and garbled text, as evidence of a local AI edit. Following this revelation, both Mr. Anderson and the North Liverpool Reform branch deleted their posts.

Conversely, no evidence was found to suggest the first image was faked. A councillor pictured in that initial image, Lilian Rogers, issued a public apology for appearing alongside the sign, stating that she failed to realize its implications at the time. The incident underscores the speed at which misleading claims can propagate and the difficulty in distinguishing between authentic and synthetically modified imagery in a polarized online environment.