AI Character Amelia Designed for Education Becomes a Political Meme in Europe

From Educational Tool to Political Symbol

The educational game 'Pathways', developed by the UK-based social enterprise Shout Out UK with support from local governments and the Home Office, aimed to raise awareness among young people about online radicalization. A minor character in the game, a purple-haired schoolgirl named Amelia, was designed as a figure who encourages the player towards risky online behaviors. However, this character was quickly adopted by far-right online circles and began serving a different purpose.

Localized Versions Spreading Across Europe

Amelia's original form spread rapidly on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram, receiving over 1.4 million views in its first viral post. The character was adapted to different European countries, becoming a vehicle for local political discourse. In Germany, the character named 'Maria' appeared in Bavarian traditional dress and delivered anti-immigrant messages. The 'Emma' version in the Netherlands emphasized traditional Christmas, while the red-haired version in Ireland made statements criticizing the country's leader. The common point of these contents was that they were typically anti-immigrant and critical of the government.

Misinformation and Commercialization Concerns

Shout Out UK's CEO, Matteo Bergamini, stated that the character had been 'memed, sexualized, and even linked to racist, antisemitic language and Nazi symbolism' by far-right actors online. The organization noted that this campaign had extended beyond the internet, resulting in threatening messages being sent to its employees.

Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan, an analyst at the London-based think tank Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), noted that Amelia-themed content had now become a 'revenue tool'. Researchers detected accounts promoting Amelia-themed 'meme coins' (cryptocurrencies themed around internet phenomena). Venkataramakrishnan emphasized that it was unclear which accounts were spreading this content for ideological reasons and which were doing so purely for profit.

Platform Responsibility and Content Moderation

The vast majority of Amelia memes do not contain hate speech or violence that would require removal under the Digital Services Act (DSA) rules. However, researchers point out that on more niche platforms like Telegram, extreme versions containing dehumanizing and violent imagery targeting specific communities are circulating. Experts underline that such emotionally charged memes tend to spread very quickly on social media once they start gaining engagement.

This incident shows how AI-generated content can be quickly stripped of its original context and used for different purposes, creating new challenges for platform moderation. The topic constitutes a new example in debates on AI ethics and social media governance. Such developments reveal that the global-scale AI development race has not only technical but also sociological dimensions.