By BBC World Service
In-depth reporting on the world of social media.
In 2024 yet another Kennedy is making a bid for the White House. Robert F Kennedy Jr - nephew of the late President John F Kennedy - is enjoying strong polling numbers for an independent candidate. He’s running on a...
In 2011, Tunisians took to the streets against the ruling authoritarian regime. Catalysed by social media, the protests would reverberate around the world, spark the Arab Spring and lead to significant democratic reforms in the country. More recently, Tunisia’s...
In Malaysian Borneo, indigenous people have struggled for land rights against companies and the state. Using new mapping technology, communities in Borneo’s rainforests are racing to prove their claims. In this episode of Trending we’ll be exploring how technology and...
Marianna Spring talks to a survivor of the mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017 about how posts on a social media account made him question an event he’d witnessed with his own eyes. Presenter: Marianna Spring Producers: Ben Carter and...
"A flood of disinformation has erupted across social media in the online propaganda battle that’s being waged alongside the physical conflict between Israel and Hamas. Everything from video game clips falsely presented as genuine combat footage, to the outright...
When an audio recording alleged to be from the Mayor of one of the world's largest cities started circulating online, reality was called into question. Mexico City's mayor, claimed the clip- which sounded like he was discussing a campaign against...
A BBC investigation has uncovered a network of fake social media accounts seemingly working together to promote the Ugandan government and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. Online, an information battle appears to be going on – one being waged...
Over the summer, a mysterious Twitter persona published details of over 14,500 social media accounts - all of them controlled by real-life Serbian citizens, it's claimed. They stand accused of posting… whatever the President’s party tells them to. It’s long...
People smugglers are selling illegal routes out of Pakistan to Europe on social media. We’ve gone undercover with BBC Newsnight and BBC Urdu to expose how smugglers are luring potential migrants into taking dangerous voyages. They advertise online… in plain sight. Promising...
Earlier in October, Australia took to the polls in a referendum and rejected the establishment of an indigenous advisory body in the constitution - the Voice. Beyond the typical controversies, social media became flooded with false information. In this...
A life coaching group has been accused of trolling former members. Lighthouse International Group promises to help people realise their dreams and ambitions, but the reality is more sinister. Lighthouse obsessively records and stores mentoring sessions and group calls. But when people...
Mike Wendling and Maxine Hughes explore how extreme conspiracies and right wing rhetoric went mainstream in America. From the Proud Boys' Enrique Tarrio, to far right militias and Antifa, we hear from individuals on the extremes of American politics about...
Videos taken across India are going viral on social media. They show hordes of men harassing and even attacking young couples in the street. The clips are accompanied by a hashtag #BhagwaLoveTrap - and have been inspired by an...
TikTok started as an app for posting lip syncs and dance videos, but quickly developed into a platform where users can follow along world events, criminal investigations and social unrest in real time. From frenzied speculation over true crime to...
You may have heard about how young men are being drawn into the so-called ‘manosphere’ but how can they escape? Can subreddits such as #IncelExit help men who are involuntarily celibate to put their disturbing views to one side and...
Conspiracy theories about viruses and vaccines have exploded in recent years. At the same time, something arguably stranger has spiralled…groups online who don’t believe germs which cause disease exist at all. They believe that there’s no such thing as viruses...
In a gruesome new trend, TikTok has been flooded with videos in which AI-generated versions of real life child murder victims tell the stories of how they were killed. The mother of child murder victim James Bulger and other grieving...
Earlier this year videos made using artificial intelligence caused a stir in Venezuela. Many Venezuelans would have thought they were real news reports but a Spanish newspaper exposed them as deepfakes and linked them to a pro-government agenda. The journalist...
Jiayang Fan was targeted by trolls while her mother was dying, and again when they learned of her death. The New Yorker writer is one of several high profile journalists who’ve been systematically targeted with online abuse. The victims are all women...
A life coaching group has been accused of trolling former members. Lighthouse International Group promises to help people realise their dreams and ambitions, but the reality is more sinister. Lighthouse obsessively records and stores mentoring sessions and group calls. But when...
Since the Covid vaccines were rolled out, a trend has sprung up – of accounts online linking virtually any death or illness, of a celebrity, athlete or ordinary person, to the shots without any evidence. A conspiracy theory film called...
In one of the dirtiest electoral campaigns in Brazil's history, figures on the left and right of the political spectrum trolled their opponents with jokes, ridicule and disinformation rocking the country's young democracy. We speak to both sides including...
Climate-denying trolls, beware: a group of internet vigilantes is coming for you. They call themselves “Team Ninja Trollhunters”: a ragtag group of activists from around the globe, who have vowed to fight those spreading climate change misinformation on Twitter....
Burmese women have been at the forefront of the resistance against the military junta ever since Myanmar lurched back into a dictatorship in 2021. Online, female activists and politicians have been fighting for their rights, gathering intel and strategizing -...
Since the world’s richest man bought Twitter last year, more than half the workforce has been sacked and scores of users previously banned for breaking Twitter’s rules were reinstated. Marianna Spring investigates how Elon Musk is transforming one of the...
We investigate the money-making schemes that spring up on platforms like TikTok in the wake of conflict. First - the war in Ukraine saw a wave of donations from ordinary citizens around the world. But as we discover, scammers have...
If promoting harmful conspiracy theories can be a lucrative way to make money, then is the best way for victims to fight back by hitting those responsible in the wallet? Alex Jones made a fortune from his Infowars website, before...
The R’n’B singer Akon has had an incredibly successful music career, with a number of smash hits and legions of fans. Recently the singer launched two ambitious projects that are inextricably linked. The first is a cryptocurrency called Akoin that...
The lack of science around 'med beds' - miracle devices with magical healing properties - has not stopped people from shelling out thousands of dollars to buy them. Why have med beds taken off online and who is selling them?...
SafeMoon promised its investors a trip to the moon but instead cost some their life savings. We speak to the YouTuber Coffeezilla who investigated the problematic token, the people who lost out and we assess the safety and future...
The past few years gave way to a boom in the number of people joining direct selling schemes in India who were lured in by the false promise of riches. These tactics – imported from the West – have been...
In 2020 the Chinmark Group appeared to be a thriving Nigerian business empire, endorsed by a string of popular influencers online. It sold investment deals to its followers, promising them astonishing returns. Today the empire is in tatters, but what...
For more than a decade, he tricked the world into believing a Scottish scientist called Alan MacMasters invented the electric toaster in 1893. At the heart of this web of fantasy was a Wikipedia article that fooled dozens of journalists,...
Since the overturning of Roe versus Wade, dozens of US abortion clinics have closed their doors. Now efforts to provide abortion information and access have moved online, where false claims, genuine pills and dodgy remedies sit side by side. We...
Ahead of Kenya’s general election, a bitter war for public opinion was being fought on social media. In a bid to sway the result, online influencers – from students to pop stars – were offered cash in exchange for political...
MrBeast is YouTube royalty: with more than 100 million subscribers, he has legions of fans around the world, in awe of his elaborate stunts. He is one of the highest-paid stars on the platform - and yet, the American YouTuber...
How did a bizarre US-based conspiracy theory about Donald Trump being the saviour of the world, lead to people protesting in the streets of Tokyo and Osaka accusing police of being reptiles? From its obscure online beginnings only a few...
Romana Didulo is a QAnon influencer who proclaimed herself “Queen of Canada”. She has issued a series of bizarre and bloodcurdling “royal decrees” claiming to have cancelled all personal debt and threatening the death penalty for those who defy her....
Russian QAnon and the Ukraine dilemma QAnon is rooted in the deep divisions of American politics and helped inspire the storming of the US capitol in Washington. So why has this bizarre and baseless conspiracy theory also been attracting supporters...
What happened when a bizarre US-based conspiracy theory surfaced a continent away in Africa? In the second part of Trending’s mini series about the impact of QAnon around the world, we report from South Africa. At the heart of...
Believers in the QAnon conspiracy theory were part of the mob that stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. Even though the movement’s figurehead went silent for months, followers continue to try to influence American politics – but their...
A new extremist Hindu movement made up mostly of young men is emerging in India. They call themselves “trads” – short for traditionalists - and they mimic the tricks and techniques used by the American alt-right. This fringe movement came...
It is hard not to feel anxious about climate change. After all, the world is already experiencing the effects of global warming - and scientists tell us much worse could still be on its way. For some, tackling climate change...
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has enjoyed a particularly close relationship with the gaming community. They were one of the groups he relied on to get elected in 2018 and he has since rewarded them by lowering taxes on video games...
We hear from a troll from the Philippines - the "patient zero" of fake news. Experts say the problem is as bad as ever, as a new election looms. Researchers claim that tactics seen playing out in the southeast Asian country...
When Kakwenza Rukirabashaija mocked the Ugandan president’s son on Twitter, he knew he was playing with fire. Within 24 hours, the satirist had been arrested, and says he was tortured before fleeing the country. Throughout the ordeal, he has not...
A number of Ghanaian journalists and influencers have been arrested in recent years – with several recent high-profile cases. Critics say freedom of speech is under serious threat. It wasn’t always this way. In 2018, Ghana was ranked the top...
Myanmar has been engulfed by a civil war which is getting deadlier and more violent as time goes on. Last year the Tatmadaw – the Burmese armed forces – overthrew the civilian-led government, led by Aung Sun Suu Kyi. Now...
When war broke out in Ukraine, President Zelensky’s plea for financial aid triggered a wave of donations from ordinary people around the world. But scammers also heard the call. They fired into action, spreading emotional appeals into every corner of the...
In the eyes of the Kremlin, global warming is a threat that needs to be dealt with. So, President Putin is taking action: he wants Russia to go carbon neutral by 2060. And yet, Russia remains one of the world’s...
