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Inside a Surrey ‘local news’ site run by AI

Surrey Speak published fake news about a politician and an AI-generated picture of a real murder victim

Zak Vescera

2 Mar 2026 • 9 min read

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A red diagonal heading called "Fake News" is stamped across a website screenshot.

Website Surrey Speak published a story about Vancouver politician William Azaroff which contained false information. (Photo montage: Surrey Speak/IJF)

Zak Vescera

Zak is a Vancouver-based reporter focusing on white-collar crime in British Columbia. He previously reported for The Tyee and The Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

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