- Amelia is a fictional teen created for a UK anti-terrorism educational game
- She has become a viral meme linked to far-right ideas on social media platforms
- The game was designed to teach youth about online radicalisation dangers
A fictional teenage girl created to warn young people about extremism is now being used online in a very different way. What began as an educational character has turned into a viral meme linked to far-right ideas, spreading quickly across social media, reported CNN.
At first glance, Amelia, sporting a purple bob hairstyle and pixie look, seems an odd choice for a popular meme associated with far-right views.
Over the past few weeks, memes and AI-generated videos based on this fictional British teenager have been spreading rapidly on social media, especially on X. She drinks pints in the pub, reads Harry Potter and travels back in time to attend the famous Battles of Britain.
This is not the life of a normal school going girl. Amelia has certain characteristics that made her worthy of becoming a meme. In particular, she was created for a computer game two years ago under the British government's anti-terrorism Prevent program.
The game, titled "Pathways: Navigating Gaming, the Internet and Extremism," was developed by Shout Out UK, a non-profit organization that increases public understanding of politics.
The aim of the game was to educate youth about the dangers of becoming radicalised online. In it, players advance through six different situations using multiple-choice options.
Players take on the role of a cartoon character named Charlie, who moves to a new school and befriends Amelia. Amelia shares anti-immigrant views and misinformation. Later inspires Charlie to join such groups and protests.
The game was simple and received criticism online due to the logic weaknesses in each of its scenarios, although it was not designed to be played alone, as SOUK CEO Matteo Bergamini explained.
She explained that the game was part of a broader learning package, so that teachers could discuss with children which behaviours were safe and healthy and which could potentially be unsafe or illegal. According to Bergamini, Amelia's appearance was not particularly important, but experts say a white, purple-haired girl who espouses far-right views inadvertently became an avatar that online right-wing groups could adopt.
Siddhartha Venkataramakrishnan, an analyst at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue, says, she meets a lot of standards for a group that tends to satirise and meme everything online. Amelia's role in the game reflects many right-wing stereotypes about the British government, which they view as anti-white and controlling.
