The grim truth behind the Starmer “rent boy” conspiracy
After three arson attacks on the PM’s property, social media caught fire
ByConspiracy theories
The hoax that spawned an age of American conspiracism
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are just the latest populists to weaponise fears of a sinister “deep state”.
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Conspiracy Britain has found new enemies
Anti-lockdown activists will never trust the Establishment again.
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The Coming Storm returns ahead of the US election
The BBC Radio 4 podcast about conspiracy thinking is back, and things are even weirder.
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Why the internet blames BlackRock
In the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, conspiracies have abounded.
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The alarming rise of BlueAnon
After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, left-wing conspiracy theories have proliferated.
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Accused: The Hampstead Paedophile Hoax terrified me
Channel 4’s chilling account of a paedophile scare shows the very modern hell unleashed by online conspiracy theories.
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The journalist vs the trolls
In Marianna Spring’s series Why Do You Hate Me?, the BBC social media correspondent finds fellowship and reconciliation amid the…
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The grim return of Alex Jones
The notorious conspiracy theorist is back on social media. His reappearance is a warning for 2024.
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The Cloud of Unreason
The Israel-Hamas war is fuelling conspiracies, lies and misinformation.
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Is Vladimir Putin dead?
What the persistent rumours about the Russian president’s health do and do not tell us about the country’s future.
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Paranoia takes root in rural England
In one of the Peak District’s most beautiful valleys, a battle over who secretly runs the world rages.
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Putin’s darkest conspiracy theory yet
The Russian president’s latest claims about Zelensky’s Jewish roots are as revealing as they are grotesque.
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Naomi Klein’s mirror world
The writer and activist on being mistaken for a conspiracy theorist.
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The rise of the Unabomber right
How American conservatives fell in love with Ted Kaczynski.
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So is the US government hiding aliens or what?
And if so, isn’t that actually quite comforting?
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The right’s obsession with “the blob” shows it is losing
This conspiracy theory is the last resort of a populist movement desperate to avoid responsibility for its own failures.
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Is the BBC afraid of satire?
After a succession of programme cancellations, fear is spreading that the corporation doesn’t think it can afford to make fun…
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Arresting Donald Trump will only strengthen the conspiracists
Five years after QAnon was born, the idea of a corrupt deep state persecuting its enemies is in the mainstream…
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Britain will keep getting weirder
Covid-era conspiracy thinking has become a permanent feature of national life.
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