The visitor to Lisa’s boatyard appeared to be an ordinary customer. But, she was horrified to later discover the real reason he had turned up at her workplace. The man who had pretended to be interested in buying a speedboat or a jet ski, was actually the conspiracy show host Richard D Hall. Lisa was seriously injured in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing - a terror attack which Hall falsely claims was faked by sinister forces in the secret services. Some time after Hall’s visit, Lisa was distres...
Oct 30, 2022•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast How widespread is the belief in conspiracy theories that falsely claim UK terror attacks are faked? Marianna Spring reveals the results of a survey carried out for the BBC. There’s a moment of revelation when she talks to Alicia, a fan of Richard D Hall, to learn more about the appeal of the online conspiracy show host. We also hear how Hall’s online reach has grown during the pandemic. In this BBC Radio 4 podcast series, Marianna Spring, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, ...
Oct 30, 2022•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Marianna Spring finally comes face to face with Richard D Hall. Will she be able to get answers for the terror survivors targeted by his conspiracy theories? In earlier episodes, we heard how Hall has spread false claims that the Manchester Arena bombing and other terror attacks were faked or actually carried out by the government. He even boasted about placing a hidden camera outside the home of a teenage survivor to try to prove her injuries weren’t real. He even describes how he tracks down s...
Oct 30, 2022•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast What sort of person spreads false claims about survivors of terror attacks? An unexpected source gives Marianna Spring the inside track on conspiracy show host Richard D Hall. Neil Sanders has moved in the same sort of conspiracy-minded circles as Hall for years. He’s been a regular guest on Hall’s show. Neil even says he probably wouldn’t have written his book without Hall’s encouragement. In this episode, he helps Marianna chart Hall’s evolution from a UFO enthusiast obsessed with alien abduct...
Oct 30, 2022•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Martin and his daughter suffered life-changing injuries in the Manchester Arena bombing, but one conspiracy theorist claims to have gone to great lengths to try to prove otherwise. Eve, then 14, and her father were the closest people to the blast to survive the 2017 terror attack, in which 22 people and the bomber were killed. During the months that followed, Martin was shocked to be told about false claims, promoted by conspiracy show host Richard D Hall, that the bombing was faked. Hall accuse...
Oct 30, 2022•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Daren is haunted by his experience of the Manchester Arena bombing. So why do people taunt him with conspiracy theories which falsely claim the attack didn’t happen? On 22 May 2017, a terrorist bomb was detonated in the foyer of the arena at the end of an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people and the bomber. Daren, who had been in the audience with his son, rushed to help the injured. He has lived with the trauma of that night ever since. But to Daren’s disbelief, it wasn’t long before sinist...
Oct 30, 2022•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast What happens when tragedy makes you a target? Why would anybody accuse terrorism survivors of being liars and “crisis actors”? The BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring investigates how people caught up in the Manchester Arena bombing and other UK terror attacks, are targeted with extreme conspiracy theories, online abuse and threats. Some are even hunted down offline. It’s a phenomenon we might usually associate with the US, and the billion dollar damages ruling ag...
Oct 24, 2022•3 min•Transcript available on Metacast Citizen journalism – reporting by self-taught people, often on the ground - can play a vital role in the coverage of conflict. However, not everyone who contributes to this coverage is as 'independent'’ as they’d like their followers to believe. Roddy’s distrust of the media led him to start his own podcast. He also follows self-styled citizen journalists who are roaming around inside Ukraine. In this episode of War On Truth, the BBC’s specialist disinformation reporter Marianna Spring investiga...
Apr 29, 2022•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast On the first day of the war, Ukraine gained a new patriotic hero and Tetyana thought she had lost a son. But the story wasn't quite as it first seemed. Tetyana’s son, Roman became world famous for defiantly swearing at a Russian warship which had threatened to bomb him and his fellow border guards on Snake Island, if they didn’t surrender. A recording of the exchange went viral and the Ukrainian government declared that Roman and his comrades had died as national heroes. Tetyana was plunged into...
Apr 22, 2022•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast After Russia’s first independent radio station was taken off air by the Kremlin, the journalists who worked there are finding ways to get round censorship of the war in Ukraine. Sergei Buntman helped to found Echo of Moscow which for more than three decades provided an alternative to the news on Russian state media. In the days following the invasion of Ukraine, his radio station and several other news organisations were forced to shut down for challenging the official narrative about the war. Y...
Apr 14, 2022•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Marianna Vishegirskaya is the pregnant woman who has unwittingly found herself at the centre of one of the most disputed events of the war. In a previous episode we looked at how Russia falsely accused her of helping fake photos of the aftermath of its attack on a maternity hospital, in which at least three people were killed. But now Marianna has told her side of the story, after escaping the besieged city of Mariupol with her husband and newborn baby. Her interview, given to a pro-Kremlin jour...
Apr 08, 2022•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast What does the invasion of Ukraine have in common with the coronavirus pandemic? On the face of it not much at all, but disinformation about the war is also fuelling existing conspiracy movements around the world. Covid denialists who claimed the pandemic was invented by a shadowy elite to impose a tyrannical global government, now believe that the conflict in Ukraine is part of the same evil plot. It’s a bizarre offshoot of the extraordinary information war that’s being fought over Ukraine, in p...
Apr 01, 2022•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast When Russia bombed a maternity hospital in Mariupol, it claimed that a wounded pregnant woman was faking it. Her friends told us something different. Images of Marianna Vyshemirska fleeing the aftermath of the attack caused an outcry around the world. But they were also seized upon for a furious disinformation campaign, waged by people including Russian diplomats, that sought to justify the bombing. But we’ve found clear evidence that the Russian story is false, and that the pregnant woman who w...
Mar 24, 2022•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Masha is one of the most famous faces on Ukrainian TV and a huge social media star. But the Russian-speaking celebrity has taken on a new role. Her Instagram posts about skin care tips have been replaced by patriotic propaganda. The former Eurovision Song Contest host says she is one of around 200 influencers who are using their social media accounts to help the Ukrainian government to get its message out. As the military battle for Ukraine rages, influencers on all sides are playing a part in t...
Mar 18, 2022•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast When social media star Maxim was shelled out of his home, he didn’t expect to be called a liar by some of his followers. But did the hostility come from real people - or automated accounts? As the battle for Ukraine rages, another conflict is being fought in parallel – an information war. And like the conflict on the ground, this fight also has real consequences for the people whose lives it touches. Russia’s military assault has been accompanied by an onslaught of disinformation and propaganda ...
Mar 14, 2022•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast What do you do when you’re Ukrainian and your cousin in Russia refuses to believe her country is attacking your home? After spending days huddled in an air raid shelter, Kristina and her family managed to flee the capital Kyiv with just the few possessions they could carry. Her ordeal has been made that much worse because her cousin in Russia - who’s been watching Russian TV - remains convinced that it’s actually the Ukrainian forces who are bombing their own country. It’s a symptom of the infor...
Mar 14, 2022•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast What’s fake, what’s real? Stories from the information war over Ukraine. BBC disinformation reporter Marianna Spring speaks to people caught up in the battle for the truth.
Mar 11, 2022•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast As Gary is remembered by those he left behind, what does his story tell us about the world we live in – online and off – right now? Gary Matthews was a talented artist and photographer, sociable and well-liked - a familiar face in his hometown of Shrewsbury. A few years ago, his friends noticed that he was getting into conspiracy theories. Like millions of others, he fell for Covid pseudoscience when the pandemic hit. In January 2021, at the age of 46, Gary caught the virus, and died. Marianna S...
Feb 21, 2022•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Marianna asks what we get wrong about people who are drawn to conspiracy theories – and finds out who's really at risk of falling down the rabbit hole. Gary Matthews was a talented artist and photographer, sociable and well-liked - a familiar face in his hometown of Shrewsbury. A few years ago, his friends noticed that he was getting into conspiracy theories. Like millions of others, he fell for Covid pseudoscience when the pandemic hit. In January 2021, at the age of 46, Gary caught the virus, ...
Feb 21, 2022•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Marianna looks at the role that social media played in pushing Gary towards conspiracy theories. Gary Matthews was a talented artist and photographer, sociable and well-liked - a familiar face in his hometown of Shrewsbury. A few years ago, his friends noticed that he was getting into conspiracy theories. Like millions of others, he fell for Covid pseudoscience when the pandemic hit. In January 2021, at the age of 46, Gary caught the virus, and died. Marianna Spring, the BBC’s specialist disinfo...
Feb 21, 2022•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Marianna examines new evidence and fills in the gaps of Gary’s last days. Gary Matthews was a talented artist and photographer, sociable and well-liked - a familiar face in his hometown of Shrewsbury. A few years ago, his friends noticed that he was getting into conspiracy theories. Like millions of others, he fell for Covid pseudoscience when the pandemic hit. In January 2021, at the age of 46, Gary caught the virus, and died. Marianna Spring, the BBC’s specialist disinformation reporter, trave...
Feb 21, 2022•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Filmmaker Tristan hears about the death of his cousin Gary. Seeking to understand what happened, Tristan returns to Shrewsbury, where he encounters Charlie Parker. Gary Matthews was a talented artist and photographer, sociable and well-liked - a familiar face in his hometown of Shrewsbury. A few years ago, his friends noticed that he was getting into conspiracy theories. Like millions of others, he fell for Covid pseudoscience when the pandemic hit. In January 2021, at the age of 46, Gary caught...
Feb 21, 2022•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Gary’s death is covered in the local media – and online, the information battle heats up. Gary Matthews was a talented artist and photographer, sociable and well-liked - a familiar face in his hometown of Shrewsbury. A few years ago, his friends noticed that he was getting into conspiracy theories. Like millions of others, he fell for Covid pseudoscience when the pandemic hit. In January 2021, at the age of 46, Gary caught the virus, and died. Marianna Spring, the BBC’s specialist disinformation...
Feb 21, 2022•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Marianna meets Charlie Parker, the man who ran the Facebook group Gary was in before he died. Gary Matthews was a talented artist and photographer, sociable and well-liked - a familiar face in his hometown of Shrewsbury. A few years ago, his friends noticed that he was getting into conspiracy theories. Like millions of others, he fell for Covid pseudoscience when the pandemic hit. In January 2021, at the age of 46, Gary caught the virus, and died. Marianna Spring, the BBC’s specialist disinforma...
Feb 21, 2022•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Marianna goes to a rally on the invitation of a man who believes strange things about Covid. Gary Matthews was a talented artist and photographer, sociable and well-liked - a familiar face in his hometown of Shrewsbury. A few years ago, his friends noticed that he was getting into conspiracy theories. Like millions of others, he fell for Covid pseudoscience when the pandemic hit. In January 2021, at the age of 46, Gary caught the virus, and died. Marianna Spring, the BBC’s specialist disinformat...
Feb 21, 2022•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Two of Gary’s closest friends give us the inside story of his journey towards conspiracy theories. Gary Matthews was a talented artist and photographer, sociable and well-liked - a familiar face in his hometown of Shrewsbury. A few years ago, his friends noticed that he was getting into conspiracy theories. Like millions of others, he fell for Covid pseudoscience when the pandemic hit. In January 2021, at the age of 46, Gary caught the virus, and died. Marianna Spring, the BBC’s specialist disin...
Feb 21, 2022•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Gary Matthews was into conspiracy theories - until he caught Covid and died. What role did falsehoods play in his death? BBC disinformation reporter Marianna Spring investigates. Gary was a talented artist and photographer, sociable and well-liked - a familiar face in his hometown of Shrewsbury. A few years ago, his friends noticed that he was getting into conspiracy theories. Like millions of others, he fell for Covid pseudoscience when the pandemic hit. In January 2021, at the age of 46, Gary ...
Feb 21, 2022•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Gary Matthews was a talented artist and photographer, sociable and well-liked - a familiar face in his hometown of Shrewsbury. A few years ago, his friends noticed that he was getting into conspiracy theories. Like millions of others, he fell for Covid pseudoscience when the pandemic hit. In January 2021, at the age of 46, Gary caught the virus, and died. Marianna Spring, the BBC’s specialist disinformation reporter, travels to the serene medieval Shropshire town that Gary Matthews called home t...
Feb 16, 2022•3 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
