Image of the state of Florida with a sign that reads "Alligator Alcatraz"

Andrea Austria / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

MAGA media are seemingly flooding the internet with AI slop about Florida's new detention center

Some social media platforms are recommending AI-generated content to users

Written by Jack Wheatley

Research contributions from Sage Hodil, Helena Hind, Isabella Corrao & Noah Dowe

Published

Right-wing media figures and social media influencers are sharing seemingly AI-generated content about Florida’s new migrant detention facility in the Everglades, including images of alligators in “ICE” hats and a picture of a prison surrounded by a moat. Some of the images were previously shared by the White House and Department of Homeland Security.

Commentators have also offered widespread praise online of the facility, which is being called “Alligator Alcatraz,” and one influencer was even invited to tour the center before it opened.

Some social media platforms are actively recommending content that appears to be AI-generated to users, including in search results for “Alligator Alcatraz” on TikTok and Instagram.

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  • The White House and DHS both have posted AI memes about the detention center, which opened this month, drawing right-wing media praise

    • In early July, the Trump administration and the state of Florida opened “Alligator Alcatraz,” a migrant detention center whose “nickname — coined by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier — references its proximity to the predators of the marshy Everglades, from pythons to alligators to mosquitoes.” Per CBS News, detainees at the facility already allege inhumane conditions, “including lack of access to water, inadequate food and denial of religious rights.” One detainee remarked over the phone, “They're not respecting our human rights. We're human beings; we're not dogs. We're like rats in an experiment." [NPR, 7/1/25; PBS, 7/3/25; CBS News, 7/8/25]
    • Ahead of the facility opening, the official social media accounts of the Department of Homeland Security and the White House posted reportedly AI-generated images of alligators wearing ICE hats to promote the facility. [Twitter/X, 6/28/25, 7/1/25; Snopes, 7/1/25; HuffPost, 7/2/25]
  • Screenshot of a post by DHS of AI Alligators wearing ICE hats
    • Right-wing media figures have praised the facility and fantasized about “feeding illegals” to the alligators. Fox host Sean Hannity claimed that the “worst of the worst” will be housed there, and Tomi Lahren said it’s “an eyesore for the alligators and the pythons that have to look at criminal illegal aliens. Not the other way around.” Right-wing influencer Alexander Muse, known online as “Amuse,” wrote, “If you’re here illegally your should seriously consider self-deporting. You won’t like Alligator Alcatraz,” sharing a video of an alligator that caught a snake. [Twitter/X, 6/30/25, 7/1/25, 7/2/25; The Guardian, 8/26/24; Fox News, Hannity, 7/1/25]

  • Right-wing media influencers are spreading seemingly AI-generated images and videos of the detention center and fantasizing about migrants being eaten by alligators

    • During his streaming show, right-wing commentator Dave Rubin played a video — seemingly created by Google’s Veo video generator — of “an illegal escaping through the Everglades” surrounded by alligators. The video depicted the person pleading with the alligators: to “Don’t eat me! Let me go and I'll give you tacos and burritos.” [YouTube, The Rubin Report, 6/30/25]
    • Conservative influencer Eric Daugherty posted an “AI rendition of Alligator Alcatraz” featuring a moat, calling it “breathtaking.” He wrote, ”I wish they could put a REAL alligator moat around it 😂.” [Breitbart, 9/21/24; Twitter/X, 6/28/25]
  • Conservative influencer Eric Dougherty posted a “AI rendition of Alligator Alcatraz” featuring a moat, calling it “breathtaking.” He wrote, ”I wish they could put a REAL alligator moat around it 😂.” According to Lead Stories, “An AI detection tool concluded with 99.9% certainty that it [the image] was not real.”
    • Right-wing influencer Catturd posted the same image, writing: “Alligator Alcatraz is what dreams are made out of.” [Twitter/X, 6/27/25]
    • TheBlaze used DHS’ apparently AI-generated image to promote an episode of Blaze News: The Mandate. [Twitter/X, 7/1/25; YouTube, 6/30/25]
    • The Blaze also used a seemingly AI-generated image for an article about the facility, showing a moat with alligators surrounding a facility labeled “ICE.” The image description says: “Note: This is a Blaze Media illustration, not the actual facility.” [The Blaze, 6/24/25]
    • The Gateway Pundit used DHS’ apparently AI-generated image of alligators with ICE hats in an article titled “Not a Gulag! ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Is Smart, Lawful Immigration Enforcement” and in a social media post sharing another piece. [The Gateway Pundit, 6/30/25; Twitter/X, 6/28/25]
    • Right-wing influencer Dom Lucre posted a video that starts with the image of the facility with a moat, writing: “The Florida Alligator Alcatraz has officially filled the surrounded waters with gators for any illegal migrant that is bold enough to escape.” He also said the facility is “in the middle of a swamp here in Miami” and “was once used as an airport but has been repurposed to house illegal migrants.” [Twitter/X, 6/28/25]
    • Right-wing media influencer-turned-U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia Nick Adams posted the same image of the detention center with a moat, saying it “looks beautiful.” [Rolling Stone, 7/10/25; Twitter/X, 6/27/25]
    • Right-wing activist and commentator Garrett Soldano’s Grassroots Army Instagram page posted the image of the facility with a moat, writing, “Ladies and gentlemen… I present to you Alligator Alcatraz.” [Media Matters, 9/5/24; Instagram, 6/28/25, accessed 7/11/25]
    • Students for Trump founder Ryan Fournier also posted the image of the facility with a moat, captioned “Alligator Alcatraz is what dreams are made out of.” His post earned at least 26,000 likes. [Facebook, 6/27/25]
    • Right-wing personality Terrence K. Williams posted a seemingly AI-generated image of an alligator with a sign reading: “Hey Tom Homan, what time is breakfast?,” which earned at least 39,000 likes. [Facebook, 7/1/25]
    • Williams also posted DHS’ image of the alligators with ICE hats, with an added caption: “Mmm. Taco Tuesday!” [Facebook, 7/1/25]
    • For America, a group which partners with Project 2025 and has 7 million followers on Facebook, posted a photo that appears to be AI-generated and shows alligators wearing DHS hats in front of a barbed wire fence with a sign saying “Detention Center.” The post earned at least 7,600 likes. [The Heritage Foundation, 2/20/24; Facebook, 6/30/25, accessed 7/9/25]
  • facebook Ai post of alligators with ICE hats
    • The Association of Mature Americans, which has at least 37,800 followers on Instagram, posted an image that appears to be AI-generated and featured Trump and an alligator, both in MAGA hats. [Newsweek, 7/10/24; Instagram, 7/1/25, accessed 7/9/25]
  • AMAC for America AI instagram post of Trump and an Alligator wearing MAGA hats

  • AI-generated imagery has proliferated on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok — some of it recommended via platform search algorithms

    • AI spam is proliferating on social media and being fed to users through recommendation algorithms. NPR reported in an article titled “AI-generated spam is starting to fill social media. Here's why” that researchers at Georgetown and Stanford Universities “found that Facebook is actively recommending some of this AI content into users' feeds — potentially creating a cycle where the posts get more engagement, so they get recommended to even more users.” The piece added, “Some individual posts from the pages they analyzed have accumulated hundreds of thousands and even millions of interactions.” [NPR, 5/14/25]
    • Recommendation algorithms curate content for users across social media platforms such as Meta’s sites and TikTok, including in search results. As noted by Meta, “The AI system behind Instagram Search automatically orders search results by predicting what you'll find most valuable and relevant.” In addition to responding to search results, TikTok and Instagram even suggest search terms that also curate user experience. [Meta, accessed 7/10/25; Instagram, accessed 7/10/25, accessed 7/10/25; TikTok, accessed 7/10/25]
    • Media Matters has found that racist and antisemitic AI-generated videos are getting millions of views on TikTok. This content traffics in racist tropes, such as depicting Black people as monkeys and criminals and featuring imagery of Black people with watermelons and fried chicken. It also includes misleading AI-generated videos of immigrants and protesters. [Media Matters, 7/1/25]
    • Last fall, Meta announced it would generate AI images to share on Instagram users’ feeds. According to reporting by Axios, “Meta said it will generate some images based on a user's interests and others that feature their likeness,” a move which follows Meta’s existing strategy of “using the Facebook feed to surface content its algorithm thinks you will like, often instead of posts shared by friends.” [Axios, 9/27/24]

  • AI-generated content about “Alligator Alcatraz” is showing up in TikTok and Instagram’s search results

    • When Media Matters searched for posts on “alligator alcatraz,” Instagram and TikTok returned multiple results with seemingly AI-generated content.
  • search results for "alligator alcatraz" on instagram

    From the July 9, 2025, search results for "alligator alcatraz" on Instagram

  • Screenshot of TikTok search results with AI content in the feed

    From the July 9, 2025, search results for "alligator alcatraz" on TikTok

    • An account with at least 256,000 followers on Instagram posted the same seemingly AI-generated image of the detention center with a moat. The post also said, “US President Donald Trump has visited the new Florida detention centre dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz', where around 3,000 migrants are expected to be held as part of his crackdown on illegal immigration.” [Instagram, 7/2/25, accessed 7/9/25]
    • An Instagram account with at least 1.9 million followers posted an image that appears to be AI-generated and shows a person attempting to scale a fence to escape an alligator, a snake, and swarms of insects. The photo also has the text “Alligator Alcatraz” and “Local News,” and it has earned over 17,000 likes. [Instagram, 6/25/25, accessed 7/9/25]
  • Screenshot of an AI image posted by OnlyInDade with over 17K likes
    • Another Instagram account posted two images which appear to be AI-generated regarding the detention center, one of which depicts an alligator dressed as an ICE agent detaining an individual with MS-13 tattoos. This account has over 27,000 followers. [Instagram, 7/1/25, 7/1/25, accessed 7/9/25]
    • Another Instagram account posted DHS' image of alligators in ICE hats, writing, “I’m ready for Alligator Alcatraz!” The account has at least 161,000 followers and the post has earned over 66,000 likes. [Instagram, 6/27/25, accessed 7/10/25]
    • A video of alligators walking toward the camera wearing ICE hats, which appears to be generated by Google’s Veo video generator, earned over 12,000 likes after it was posted on TikTok. The caption read: “Meet the cold-blooded enforcers of the yard.🐊” [TikTok, 7/1/25, 7/1/25, accessed 7/9/25]
    • On Instagram, former Vice Napa, California, Mayor Doris Gentry posted what appeared to be an AI-generated image of the detention center which read, “No escape. No mercy. Coming this summer.” [Instagram, 6/30/25]
  • Screenshot of an Ai image on instagram of alligators swimming in front of a prison with the words: "No escape. No mercy. Coming this Summer."