Dangerous online conspiracy theories have led to mass shootings, anti-vaccination refusal protests, and death threats to politicians and celebrities around the Western World.

The crazy-sounding QAnon theory has over 4.5 million followers in the US (and 41% of Republican voters believe QAnon is good for the country) while in the UK, the ‘Replacement Plan’ is believed by 31% of Brexit voters (i.e. about 5,397,330 people).

What responsibility do media operators of all kinds have here; should they ‘no-platform’ these people, report them, but with health warnings, denounce them or educate their audiences about how Conspiracy Theories work?

Chair for the evening: James Ball - Having worked for the Guardian and Buzz Feed, James is now the Global Editor at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and a columnist for The New European. He has authored several books including 'Post-Truth' and 'The Bluffocracy'. His latest book, 'The System', was published in May 2020

Our Expert Panel:

John Naughton - Observer columist and academic - John is the Technology columnist of The Observer, and the Senior Research fellow in CRASSH – the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Services and Humanities at Cambridge University, where he’s been a Principal Investigator on a five-year project on ‘Conspiracy and Democracy.’

James O'Brien - LBC Talk show host - James is a well know English radio presenter, podcaster and author . Since 2004 he presented a talk show on radio station, LBC hosting a phone-in discussion of current affairs, views and real-life experiences.

Marianna Spring - Specialist Disinformation and Social Media Reporter at BBC News. Marianna is a specialist disinformation reporter and has investigated lots of misleading stories circulating online during the pandemic. Marianna is also the specialist reporter covering disinformation and social media for BBC News and BBC World Service.

Bronte Lord - CNN producer - Bronte Lord is a producer with CNN Business in New York. She covers innovation, space and technology. Her most recent reporting, written with colleague Richa Naik, follows a former QAnon believer as he emerges from the virtual cult and reckons with the damage it has done to his relationships with friends and family. Web link here.

Tuesday 01 December 2020

Starts 18:00 PROMPT

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