Disaster Trolls

When Julia Wandelt posted on social media that she believed she was Madeleine McCann, she became a lightning rod for online anger. In the first of a new series exploring extraordinary cases of online hate and the possibility of forgiveness, Marianna Spring, the BBC's Disinformation and social media correspondent, speaks to Julia about her motives and regrets.Listen to more episodes of Why Do You Hate Me on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts. For this series, Marianna Spring (one of the most trolled BBC journalists) dives into her inbox and investigates a different extraordinary case of online hate to find out. She meets the people at the heart of these conflicts, and in some cases brings them together, to see if understanding - even forgiveness - is ever possible. Subscribe to BBC Sounds to hear the episodes first.And watch the episodes on BBC iPlayer too.If you have been affected by some of the issues raised in this programme, please visit bbc.co.uk/actionline.Host: Marianna Spring Series Producer: Emma Close Producer: Ben Carter
 Editor: Sam Bonham
Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell Production co-ordinator: Rosie StrawbridgeArchive credits: Peteski Productions distributed through CBS Media Ventures.

Marianna Spring returns to her investigation into conspiracy theories about UK terror attack victims, and reports on moves to hold those responsible for spreading them to account.Disaster Trolls revealed how people caught up in the Manchester Arena bombing suffered years of online abuse and threats as a result of false claims that they were “crisis actors” who faked the attack.In this new episode, Marianna discovers what has changed for some of the people who featured in the original series. She also reports on developments in efforts to hold to account those who spread extreme conspiracy theories, and asks questions about how to tackle harmful disinformation while protecting freedom of expression at the same time. This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence. Presenter: Marianna Spring Producer: Olivia Lace-Evans Editor: Ed Main

News breaks of a landmark US court ruling about the Sandy Hook shooting, raising the hopes of victims of conspiracy theories in the UK, in their own struggles for accountability.When a Connecticut jury orders Infowars host Alex Jones to pay almost a billion dollars in damages for the false claims he promoted, Marianna Spring is contacted by many of the people she has spoken to during the series. She is also sent reaction by other bereaved relatives of terror victims, who have been targeted with conspiracy theories and online abuse. In this final episode, Marianna reflects on her investigation. She learns more about the libel action that Martin Hibbert, a survivor of the 2017 Manchester Arena attack, is taking steps to bring against the conspiracy show host Richard D Hall. There is news from YouTube, and a new video from Hall. This episode contains audio from Richard D Hall’s website.Presenter: Marianna Spring Producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Ed Main

Travis survived the Westminster Bridge attack, but he didn’t expect what came next. Are victims of terrorism taken seriously enough when they seek help against abusive trolling? A terror attack outside the Houses of Parliament in March 2017 left five people dead, while 50 more - including Travis - were injured. As Travis lay recovering in hospital, he opened his phone and saw a death threat that accused him of being a “crisis actor” paid to fake the attack. More were to follow.But Travis says when he sought action to stop the abuse, he came up against a lack of awareness. He feels badly let down by the response he received. So is this a problem that society should be doing more to combat, and if so whose responsibility is it?In this BBC Radio 4 podcast series, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring, investigates how survivors of UK terror attacks and tragedies are targeted with horrific conspiracy theories, online abuse and threats. Across this series - and in this episode - there are graphic descriptions of violence.Presenter: Marianna Spring Producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Ed Main

Brent has disavowed the toxic conspiracy theories he helped create about the 7/7 London terror attacks. But what will happen when he meets a survivor?After years down the rabbit hole, Brent has severed his ties with the conspiracy world which has dominated much of his adult life. He recalls helping to shape false claims that the 7/7 London terror attacks in July 2005 were “false flag” operations staged by sinister forces in the government. But now he is trying to make amends.Paul was seriously injured in those attacks, and has also suffered as a result of the sort of conspiracy theories that Brent used to propagate. Marianna brings the two men together for a conversation. In this BBC Radio 4 podcast series, Marianna Spring, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, investigates how survivors of terrorist attacks are targeted with online abuse and false claims that deny the reality of the traumatic events they have lived through.Across this series - and in this episode - there are graphic descriptions of violence.Presenter: Marianna Spring Producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Ed Main

Rob tried to stop his Infowars colleagues spreading conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook shooting. Now his testimony has helped hold his former boss to account in court.Twenty of the 27 people killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut, were children. But for years after the attack, Infowars host Alex Jones used his show to spread false claims that nobody died, and that the shooting was faked to create a pretext to disarm US gun owners.In this episode, Rob talks about his 13 years working for Infowars, and how in that time he saw Jones achieve enormous wealth and fame by pushing ever more extreme conspiracy theories. Rob was mocked and ignored when he urged Jones and other co-workers to drop the harmful lies they were pushing about Sandy Hook. But his testimony, about what went on inside the company, has now helped parents of the shooting victims to win huge damages awards against his former boss. Could this sort of legal action provide a way for those targeted by similar conspiracy theories in Britain to seek accountability from their tormentors?In this BBC Radio 4 podcast series, Marianna Spring, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, investigates how survivors of UK terror attacks and other tragedies, suffer, online abuse and threats. This episode contains audio from the Infowars website.Presenter: Marianna Spring Producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Ed Main

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 distressed to learn that Hall had visited her workplace, posing as a customer, with the aim of secretly recording her to discover whether she’s lying about her injuries - and that he had talked about it online.As Lisa ponders how Hall can be held to account, another Manchester survivor reveals his plans to take legal action against him. Martin Hibbert - who we heard from in an earlier episode - is spurred on by the US court victory of the relatives of the Sandy Hook shooting victims who have successfully sued Infowars host Alex Jones in Texas. Across this series - and in this episode - there are graphic descriptions of violence. This episode contains audio from Richard D Hall’s website.Presenter: Marianna Spring Producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Ed Main

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, investigates how survivors of the Manchester Arena bombing and other tragedies, are targeted with online abuse and false claims that deny the reality of the horrific events they have lived through.How popular are these extreme conspiracy theories? What are the factors that make people more susceptible to believing them? This episode provides some insight from the results of an online survey carried out for the BBC. King's College London interviewed more than 4000 adults in the UK, between 1-9 October 2022.Presenter: Marianna Spring Producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Ed Main

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 survivors of the attack to determine whether it was faked. When Hall repeatedly refuses to be interviewed, Marianna heads to Wales to visit the market stall where he sells his merchandise.In this BBC Radio 4 podcast series, Marianna Spring, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, investigates how online trolls deepen the trauma suffered by people caught up in terror attacks and other horrific events.This episode contains audio from Richard D Hall’s website.Presenter: Marianna Spring Producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Ed Main

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 abductions to someone who promotes toxic conspiracy theories.Neil rejects Hall’s theories about so-called “crisis actors” and faked terror attacks, and he recognises the distress those false claims cause to survivors.In this BBC Radio 4 podcast, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring, investigates how survivors of UK terror attacks and tragedies are targeted with horrific conspiracy theories, online abuse and threats. Some are even tracked down offline too. Now they want answers and justice.This episode contains audio from Richard D Hall’s website.Presenter: Marianna Spring Producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Ed Main