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The Sandy Hook Hoaxers – Update
An update on the people behind a paranoid conspiracy theory. Twenty-six people, mostly young children, died at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. They were the victims of a man named Adam Lanza, who killed himself after the slaughter. It was a shocking tragedy, even in a country used to regular gun violence.
Soon false rumours began to circulate online, that the attacks were staged using actors. Although they had no basis in truth, hundreds of YouTube videos, blogs, and tweets repeated the conspiracy theories. And the rumours were pushed by an alternative media mogul named Alex Jones. His online news site Infowars has millions of listeners and viewers. He’s interviewed President Trump, who has repeated Infowars stories on his Twitter feed and in speeches.
One of the fathers who lost their children in the shooting was Lenny Pozner, whose son Noah was killed. As the “hoaxers” went to greater extremes to spread their fake news – even targeting grieving parents - Lenny Pozner led the online fight back.
In April, the parents of Noah Pozner filed a defamation lawsuit against Jones. And now, amid concern about conspiracies and “fake news”, big social media companies have shut down Infowars and Alex Jones accounts.
This is an update of a story that was originally broadcast in March 2017.
Presenter: Mike Wendling
Reporter: Sam Judah
Studio managers: James Beard and John Scott
Photo Caption: Alex Jones, founder of Infowars
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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By BBC World Service
4.6
4444 ratings
An update on the people behind a paranoid conspiracy theory. Twenty-six people, mostly young children, died at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. They were the victims of a man named Adam Lanza, who killed himself after the slaughter. It was a shocking tragedy, even in a country used to regular gun violence.
Soon false rumours began to circulate online, that the attacks were staged using actors. Although they had no basis in truth, hundreds of YouTube videos, blogs, and tweets repeated the conspiracy theories. And the rumours were pushed by an alternative media mogul named Alex Jones. His online news site Infowars has millions of listeners and viewers. He’s interviewed President Trump, who has repeated Infowars stories on his Twitter feed and in speeches.
One of the fathers who lost their children in the shooting was Lenny Pozner, whose son Noah was killed. As the “hoaxers” went to greater extremes to spread their fake news – even targeting grieving parents - Lenny Pozner led the online fight back.
In April, the parents of Noah Pozner filed a defamation lawsuit against Jones. And now, amid concern about conspiracies and “fake news”, big social media companies have shut down Infowars and Alex Jones accounts.
This is an update of a story that was originally broadcast in March 2017.
Presenter: Mike Wendling
Reporter: Sam Judah
Studio managers: James Beard and John Scott
Photo Caption: Alex Jones, founder of Infowars
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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