Low reported severity Internal Action

Full Fact finds AI deepfakes of UK public-health academics made to promote menopause supplements on TikTok; depicted professors object

In a December 2025 investigation, the fact-checker Full Fact reported that social media accounts were using AI-generated deepfakes of real doctors and academics, made from real footage, to promote supplements, with many links to the US company Wellness Nest. Professor David Taylor-Robinson of the University of Liverpool learned on 11 August 2025 that TikTok carried footage of his real conference talk altered so that a fake version of him discussed a supposed menopause symptom and recommended a Wellness Nest probiotic; The Guardian reported 14 such videos. TikTok at first found no violation, and removed the account after Full Fact contacted it on 24 September, calling the delay a moderating error. He said he became more and more irritated, that removal was a faff and that people who know him could have been taken in. Full Fact also found eight videos of Duncan Selbie, former head of Public Health England, who called them a complete fake. Wellness Nest denied running the accounts or using AI-generated content. The tool used is not identified.

AI system: Unidentified video tool
Occurred: Aug 2025
Reported: 5 December 2025
Event location: Unknown

What the AI did: Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm: Reputational HarmPsychological Distress

Whose AI use: Someone else’s AI use
Setting: Health · Work

Evidence: AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources; 8 claims: 1 disputed, 7 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed: At least 2 people

AI system as recorded: Unidentified tools used to alter real footage and voices of public-health academics into supplement-promotion videos, described by Full Fact as AI-generated deepfakes; no tool is named

What Happened

The videos. Full Fact reported on 5 December 2025 that its investigation had found social media accounts using AI-generated deepfakes of real doctors and academics to promote health products with bogus endorsements, many linking to the website of the US supplements company Wellness Nest. The Guardian, reporting the investigation, said the pictures and audio of real footage had been reworked so that the speakers encourage women going through menopause to buy the company's products.

The professor. David Taylor-Robinson, a children's public health doctor at the University of Liverpool who is not on TikTok, learned on 11 August 2025 from a colleague's email that TikTok carried footage of his real appearance at a Public Health England conference, altered so that a fake version of him talked about a supposed menopause symptom and recommended a Wellness Nest probiotic. The Guardian reported 14 such videos, one depicting him swearing and making misogynistic comments. He said he did not feel desperately violated but became more and more irritated at people selling products off the back of his work and at the health misinformation, that getting the videos down was a faff, and that a friend's wife had almost been taken in.

The platform. When the university reported the content, TikTok first said no violations were found; it later restricted the videos without removing them, and banned the account after Full Fact emailed it on 24 September. TikTok told Full Fact the delay was a moderating error and that it removed the posts under its impersonation and misinformation policies. The most-viewed video had more than 365,000 views by then.

A second depicted academic. Full Fact found eight videos on the same account showing Duncan Selbie, former chief executive of Public Health England. He called them a complete fake and was not pleased that they existed.

Counterevidence and limits. Wellness Nest told Full Fact the accounts were unaffiliated with it and said it had never used AI-generated content; it did not answer Full Fact's question about a blog explaining how to earn money from the company by generating deepfakes. No source names the tool, describes a technical test distinguishing AI generation from other editing, or reports a viewer who bought a product.

Reported harm

Two depicted public-health academics object to AI-altered videos that made them recommend supplements: the professor says he became more and more irritated, that people who know him could have been taken in and that removal took weeks of effort; the former Public Health England chief says he was not pleased that the videos existed.

How Harm Occurred

Accounts posted videos made from real footage of public-health academics, altered so that AI-generated versions of them appeared to recommend supplements; the academics' likenesses and professional standing were used without consent, and the professor spent weeks getting TikTok to remove the videos.

Outcome

Resolved

TikTok permanently banned the account carrying the videos after Full Fact's email of 24 September 2025 and said it removed them for breaching its impersonation and misinformation policies. Full Fact reported that similar videos remained on other platforms.

What remains unknown

Who operated the accounts and which tools generated the altered footage and voices.
Whether any viewer bought a product after seeing the videos, and any financial or health consequence for viewers.
When the first videos depicting the two academics were posted.
Whether other people Full Fact identified as possibly deepfaked objected or suffered other consequences.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. Full Fact, a fact-checking organisation that examined the videos, traced them to real footage of the two academics (a Public Health England conference talk and a May 2025 select committee appearance) altered so that they appear to say things about menopause and supplements they never said, and describes them as AI-generated deepfakes. Both depicted men say the videos are fake. TikTok removed them under its impersonation and misinformation policies. Full Fact does not name the tool or describe a technical test that distinguishes AI generation from other editing.

8 claims: 1 disputed, 7 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Full Fact reported on 5 December 2025 that its investigation had found a series of social media accounts using AI-generated deepfakes of real doctors and academics, made from real footage of them, to promote health products with bogus endorsements, many linking to the website of the US supplements company Wellness Nest.

Causal attribution. Full Fact's own investigation; The Guardian relays the same finding (one origin).

fullfact.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
'A Full Fact investigation has found that a series of social media accounts have been using AI-generated deepfakes of real doctors and academics—including Professor Taylor-Robinson—to promote health products with bogus endorsements.'; 'Many of the links on the accounts we’ve seen posting deepfakes do go to the Wellness Nest website, where you can buy its products.'
theguardian.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'All the deepfakes involve real footage of a health expert taken from the internet. However, the pictures and audio have been reworked so that the speakers are encouraging women going through menopause to buy products such as probiotics and Himalayan shilajit from the company’s website.'

Reported Professor David Taylor-Robinson, a children's public health doctor at the University of Liverpool who is not on TikTok, learned on 11 August 2025 from a colleague's email that TikTok carried footage of his real appearance at a Public Health England conference, altered so that a fake version of him talked about a supposed menopause symptom and recommended a Wellness Nest probiotic.

Causal attribution. Full Fact's account of the professor's discovery and its transcript of the video.

fullfact.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
'On 11 August this year Professor David Taylor-Robinson received an email from a colleague at the University of Liverpool, where he works.'; 'what he found was footage of his real appearance at a Public Health England (PHE) conference subtly altered to make him talk not about the north-south health divide, but about “thermometer leg”.'; 'One solution I recommend: probiotic for women in menopause from Wellness Nest.'

Reported The Guardian reported that in August the professor found TikTok hosting 14 doctored videos purporting to show him recommending products with unproven benefits, and that in one he was depicted swearing and making misogynistic comments while discussing menopause.

Causal attribution. The Guardian's report; Full Fact does not give the number of videos.

theguardian.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'In August, he was shocked to find that TikTok was hosting 14 doctored videos purporting to show him recommending products with unproven benefits.'; 'In one misleading video, he was depicted swearing and making misogynistic comments while discussing menopause.'

Reported When the university reported the content, TikTok first said no violations were found; after further reports it restricted the videos' visibility without removing them, and the account was permanently banned after Full Fact emailed TikTok on 24 September 2025. TikTok told Full Fact the delay was a moderating error and that it removed the posts for breaching its impersonation and misinformation policies.

Causal attribution. Full Fact's account and TikTok's statements to Full Fact and to The Guardian.

fullfact.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
'Professor Taylor-Robinson notified his manager and the comms team at the university, which reported the content to TikTok, only to be told that no violations were found.'; 'by the time @better_healthy_life was permanently banned, after our email to TikTok on 24 September.'; 'TikTok told us it didn’t take the posts down earlier because of a moderating error.'; 'It told us it eventually removed them for breaching its impersonation and misinformation policies.'
theguardian.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'TikTok took down the videos six weeks after Taylor-Robinson complained.'; 'We have removed this content [relating to Taylor-Robinson and Selbie] for breaking our rules against harmful misinformation and behaviours that seek to mislead our community, such as impersonation.'

Reported The professor said he did not feel desperately violated but became more and more irritated at people selling products off the back of his work and at the health misinformation, that getting the videos taken down was a faff, and that a friend's wife had almost been taken in, so people who know him could have been deceived.

Causal attribution. The professor's own statements to Full Fact and to The Guardian (one witness).

fullfact.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
'“One of my friends said his wife had seen it and was almost taken in by it, until their daughter said it’s obviously been faked,” he told Full Fact. “So people who know me could have been taken in by it. That is concerning.”'
theguardian.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'“I didn’t feel desperately violated, but I did become more and more irritated at the idea of people selling products off the back of my work and the health misinformation involved.”'; 'It was a faff to get them taken down,” he said.'

Reported Full Fact found eight videos on the same account showing Duncan Selbie, former chief executive of Public Health England, supposedly talking about menopause; Selbie, who does not use social media, called them a complete fake and was not pleased that they existed.

Causal attribution. Full Fact's finding and Selbie's statement to Full Fact; The Guardian relays it.

fullfact.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
'Eight videos showed the former chief executive of PHE, Duncan Selbie, also supposedly talking about menopause.'; 'It’s a complete fake from beginning to end.”'; 'he wasn’t at all pleased that they existed. “It wasn’t funny in the sense that people pay attention to these things,” he told us.'

Reported Full Fact reported that the thermometer-leg video had more than 365,000 views by the time the account was banned.

Causal attribution. An audience figure, not a count of harmed people.

fullfact.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
'It had accrued more than 365,000 views, 7,691 likes, 459 comments and 2,878 bookmarks by the time @better_healthy_life was permanently banned'

Disputed Wellness Nest told Full Fact that the accounts were unaffiliated with it, and its blog said it had never used AI-generated content and could not control or monitor affiliates; it did not answer Full Fact's question about a blog explaining how people can earn money from the company by generating deepfakes and using AI to mimic real voices.

Causal attribution. The company's denial of responsibility, recorded as counterevidence; Full Fact does not establish who operated the accounts.

fullfact.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
'When we contacted Wellness Nest, it told us: “These affiliate accounts are 100% unaffiliated with Wellness Nest.”'; 'Wellness Nest has never used AI-generated content, never paid celebrities'; 'using AI to mimic real voices. Wellness Nest did not reply to this question either.'

Sources

2 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

Full Fact, 5 December 2025: how academics are being deepfaked on TikTok and Instagram to promote supplements(opens in new tab)
s1 · fullfact.org · Fact check · English · Inspected · 5 December 2025 · Primary
The Guardian, 5 December 2025: AI deepfakes of real doctors spreading health misinformation on social media(opens in new tab)
s2 · theguardian.com · News report · English · Inspected · 5 December 2025

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Full Fact analysis by Leo Benedictus, 5 December 2025, reporting its own investigation and its interviews with the two depicted academics, TikTok, Google, Meta and Wellness Nest; read in full (HTTP 200). Applies to s1.

The Guardian, 5 December 2025, reporting Full Fact's investigation with its own quotations from the professor, statements from TikTok and a politician; read in full (HTTP 200). Its account of Full Fact's findings relays Full Fact. Applies to s2.

Event countries: Unknown. Affected-person countries: United Kingdom. Court countries: Unknown.

The depicted professor works at the University of Liverpool and the other depicted man was chief executive of Public Health England (Full Fact, The Guardian). No source says where the accounts were operated or where viewers were, so event countries are left unknown.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-18: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): Full Fact examined videos altered from real footage of two UK public-health academics and found them to be AI-generated deepfakes promoting supplements; the professor describes irritation, concern that people who know him were taken in and the effort of getting TikTok to remove the videos, and the former Public Health England chief objects to them. The tool and the technical basis of the AI finding are undisclosed, and the supplements company denies running the accounts.

People described

Two UK public-health academics depicted without consent in AI-altered videos promoting supplements: a professor at the University of Liverpool and a former chief executive of Public Health England

People reported harmed in this case

At least 2 people

0 AI participants · 2 other people harmed

Additional affected people are described without a reliable count.

The two depicted academics whose objections are reported are counted: the professor, who complained to TikTok, and the former Public Health England chief, who told Full Fact the videos were a complete fake. Other people Full Fact identified as possibly deepfaked, the friend's wife who was almost taken in and the video's 365,000 viewers are not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Full Fact finds AI deepfakes of UK public-health academics made to promote menopause supplements on TikTok; depicted professors object. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-uk-full-fact-finds-ai-deepfakes-of-public-health-academics-promoting-supplements-on-tiktok

BibTeX

@misc{2025_uk_full_fact_finds_ai_deepfakes_of_public_health_academics_promoting_supplements_on_tiktok,
  title = {Full Fact finds AI deepfakes of UK public-health academics made to promote menopause supplements on TikTok; depicted professors object},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-uk-full-fact-finds-ai-deepfakes-of-public-health-academics-promoting-supplements-on-tiktok}
}

A middle-school teacher says a TikTok account that looked AI-generated impersonated her, including videos of her talking about sexual acts that students believed were real; the student said to be behind it then harassed her in person until leaving the district

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Medium Unidentified video tool

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Low Unidentified video tool

Professor Nissaf Ben Alaya publicly denies a video circulating on social media that uses the professor's image and an attributed voice to promote a supposed prostate cancer treatment, and attributes it to AI; statement published by Kapitalis on 28 September 2026

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Low Unidentified video tool (suspected)

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