A fast-unfolding investigation into UK-based Sri Lankan content creator Geeth Sooriyapura has uncovered a sophisticated cross-border ecosystem that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to manufacture hate speech, monetise rage-bait content, and manipulate political discourse. What initially appeared to be routine online provocation now points to a coordinated digital operation capable of fuelling ethnic and religious tensions in both Sri Lanka and immigrant communities abroad.
At the centre of the controversy is the deliberate use of generative AI to create anti-immigrant, Islamophobic, and inflammatory narratives designed to provoke maximum outrage. Media and Entertainment Lawyer Chanakya Jayadeva stressed that despite misconceptions, AI does not absolve its operators of legal responsibility. “AI only works when commanded. If it spreads hate, it is because a person instructed it,” he said.
Jayadeva noted that Sri Lanka’s ICCPR Act provides clear legal grounds to prosecute individuals promoting racial or religious hatred, even when operating overseas. Section 3(1) explicitly prohibits advocacy of hatred that incites discrimination or violence. Although Sri Lanka cannot extradite offenders without formal agreements, he said individuals can still be charged in absentia and prosecuted if they enter the country.
The Online Safety Act (OSA) widens accountability further, criminalising false statements that threaten public order or promote hostility. Its provisions apply regardless of whether offenders reside inside or outside Sri Lanka, while sections on bot-driven misinformation and harmful digital manipulation offer additional avenues for prosecution. The Computer Crime Act adds penalties for unauthorised digital interference linked to national security.Cybersecurity expert Asela Waidyalankara explained that ideology alone is not driving this phenomenon profit is. He said Sooriyapura was effectively “teaching people to create rage-bait content,” such as fabricated claims about Muslim communities “taking over London,” which go viral and trigger algorithm-based monetisation. In Sri Lanka, influencers with large followings often operate in a grey market where political clients pay them to amplify narratives
