A Facebook page operating under the guise of a reputable New Zealand news outlet, “Northern Ocean,” has been exposed by AAP FactCheck for systematically disseminating fabricated news stories and AI-generated imagery featuring prominent political figures. While the page presents itself as a hub for “real-time breaking news,” metadata from Facebook indicates that the operation is actually based in Vietnam. This page forms part of a broader, concerning trend of offshore disinformation campaigns targeting political and sports figures across both New Zealand and Australia, using clickbait tactics to lure unsuspecting users to external, ad-heavy websites littered with further falsehoods.
The content published by Northern Ocean is demonstrably fraudulent, frequently relying on poor-quality AI-generated imagery to support bizarre narratives. One notable fabrication claimed that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters spontaneously sang the New Zealand national anthem at the Vatican, purportedly silencing a crowd in front of St Peter’s Basilica. Fact-checkers confirmed the incident never occurred and identified significant physical inconsistencies in the accompanying AI images, including the depiction of a non-existent spire on the Basilica’s roof and erroneous physical portrayals of both politicians that contradict their official appearances.
Other campaigns have targeted the Prime Minister with fabricated charitable and policy-related claims. One post baselessly alleged that Luxon and his wife had cleared $600,000 in school lunch debt, a narrative likely twisted from a legitimate 2025 news report regarding a tax debt owed by a lunch provider. The accompanying photo featured a woman who bore no resemblance to Amanda Luxon, further confirming the image was synthetic. Additionally, the page has attempted to incite cultural outrage by falsely attributing controversial remarks to the Prime Minister regarding LGBTQ+ themes in children’s media—a fabrication that mimics similar disproven attacks used against high-profile figures globally.
The misinformation campaign extends to electoral processes, with the page inventing televised “knockout” debates between Luxon and opposition leader Chris Hipkins set in 2026. These posts rely on manipulated photos of strangers to pose as political leaders, exploiting the public’s memory of past debates while inventing future scenarios to stir political tension. In another instance, the page fabricated a “brutal clash” between U.S. President Donald Trump and Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick at a climate summit. Fact-checkers noted that the supposed photographic evidence was entirely AI-generated, featuring physical traits—such as Swarbrick’s hairstyle—that do not match reality.
This operation is not an isolated incident. AAP FactCheck has identified dozens of similar pages linked to Vietnam, all employing identical deceptive tactics to mimic legitimate news media. These networks are successfully garnering millions of views by leveraging emotionally charged content regarding riots, immigration, and natural disasters to manipulate public discourse. The repetitive nature of these posts, often riddled with misspellings of the politicians’ names, suggests a scaled, automated attempt to profit from viral misinformation while sowing confusion in the domestic politics of Pacific nations.
As an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network, AAP FactCheck continues to monitor and debunk these coordinated disinformation efforts. By providing transparent evidence—such as comparing AI anomalies against architectural records and verified historical data—they aim to alert the public to these malicious practices. The emergence of pages like Northern Ocean underscores the critical need for digital literacy and critical appraisal when consuming news through social media platforms, as offshore actors continue to weaponize generative AI to erode trust in national leadership and established political processes.
