A video featuring United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer is circulating on social media, claiming that starting 1 November, a new policy to impose a £500 fee on people leaving the country, including those travelling abroad for vacations, employment, or education will be implemented.
It also asserted that “authorities state this is for managing borders and ensuring security.”
Here are the details shared in the video:
"Starting 1 November, a new policy will come into effect that has many talking. The UK will introduce a £500 fee for anyone leaving the country, whether for a holiday, work or study... Some are calling it an exit fee, seeing it as a challenge to travel for everyday families."
Additionally, the viral video is manipulated using artificial intelligence.
What we found: At first, we ran a relevant keyword search to find more information about an 'exit fee' however, we did not find any official reports or annoucements about any such policy implementation from 1 November.
This information was not available on the UK government or its parliamentary record's website, as well.
Discrepancies in the video: In the opening shot of the viral clip, PM Starmer can be seen allegedly explaining this 'exit fee.'
However, Team WebQoof noticed irregularities in the lip movement, usually noted in AI-manipulated visuals.
We ran the clip on the AI-detection website Hive Moderation and found that the clip was 99.5% 'likely' to contain AI-generated content.
Further, we took screenshots of the parts featuring Starmer in the viral clip and ran Google and Yandex image searches to check if could find its original source.
It led us to a report by The Independent from 19 December 2024 which included a similar frame of Starmer as in the viral video.
Team WebQoof conducted a relevant keyword search and found a video on the UK Parliament's official YouTube channel featuring Starmer, similar to the one seen in the viral clip.
PM Starmer sat before the Liaison Committee and answered questions on growth and the economy, public services and global affairs and security.
There was no discussion about an 'exit fee' from the UK.
Conclusion: An AI-manipulated video is being shared to falsely claim that the UK government will charge a £500 'exit fee,' upon leaving the country.
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