Universities in London face an “uphill battle” in trying to counter disinformation from “bad actors” on social media who claim the capital is a dangerous place to live, experts have warned.

Viral videos on TikTok, X and Instagram frequently display fake crime statistics about violence in London and use misleading clips of incidents to portray the city as unsafe.

“A typical strategy is to take some real-time event of someone getting mugged or robbed and then take that out of context and put it on social media or actually take footage from a different city and pretend that it’s happening in London,” said Sander van der Linden, professor of social psychology in society at the University of Cambridge.

The latest official crime statistics show that serious crime in the capital is falling. Its homicide rate is lower than most other UK cities and significantly lower than many other global capitals.

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But viral videos will often claim the opposite. Van der Linden said it is an “uphill battle” to counter these and warned they have “real-world consequences” for how students view London and its universities.

“If people perceive the city as unsafe, their parents are less likely to want to send their kids to universities, which…could mean lower income for universities. A drop in students could be financially harmful to universities that may already be struggling.”

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Some videos portray a false message of how dangerous London is, while others spread deliberate lies about universities – often using artificial intelligence to do so.

An AI video purporting to be about “Croydon University” – a fake institution – featuring a lecture hall full of predominantly young black men in hoods has been viewed over 12 million times on TikTok alone. Another of their “graduation” has been seen by 1.7 million.

Research has proven that social media algorithms encourage outrage and polarised views. Van der Linden said the people creating these viral videos are “rage farming and monetising engagement”.

“They notice that they get paid a lot if they post something that the algorithm picks up on and obviously stuff that elicits rage is much more likely to go viral, so they stop caring about it being accurate.”

One creator, an estate agent by trade who posts fake videos of illegal immigrants getting free London houses,

Liz Hutchinson, chief executive of London Higher, said the decision to study overseas can feel daunting for parents and young people.

“We are seeing bad actors exploiting these concerns through coordinated campaigns that spread disinformation about life in London.”

Hutchinson said London Higher works closely with universities in the capital to share accurate information and showcase what makes London a great place to live and study.

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“We do not want prospective students to miss out on the unparalleled opportunities and experiences London offers because of misleading or false claims.”

University messaging typically positions London as a safe city.

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Lina Filippidi, head of social media at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said her team focuses on making overseas students feel comfortable living in a major city despite the drawbacks it might bring.

“We’re not a university town...so it’s kind of a given, but I think to balance it out, what we have focused on is on a lot of the positives that London has to offer.

“All of the positives in London can balance out the negative hype around it being dangerous to live in a big city.”

While it is a social media problem, Emma Briant, a visiting associate professor at the University of Notre Dame, said the issue has a “very long tail” – starting with the right-wing press and aided by prominent names in the US.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk have made false claims that there are “no go” zones in London or that Mayor Sadiq Khan is enacting Sharia.

“With Khan becoming mayor, that obviously was a key event that they were able to grasp on to in order to push a very xenophobic portrayal of London as violent due to migrants,” said Briant.

She said the false idea that London is dangerous is a “major problem for universities” – but warned they have “seen nothing yet” compared with the US, where some are “trying to portray universities in liberal cities as violent themselves, the campuses as violent, and they’re placing a lot of pressure on the universities”.

“I would worry personally that this may well end up happening in the UK as well.”

Going forward, Van der Linden urged university communications teams to follow the “pre-bunking” philosophy and pre-emptively try to get ahead of any disinformation.

“They’re very creative, they have budgets for social media, so think this is something they could be doing. I think that the key here is to be proactive.

“Universities, like companies, sometimes have this tendency to only react in response to the situation rather than proactively educate audiences.”

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said some politicians and commentators denigrate the city but the facts show a very different picture.

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“It’s routinely voted the best city to live in, travel to, experience culture, art and music and is consistently ranked among the world’s best cities for higher education with more than 500,000 students choosing to study here.”

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com