5. Fandom Frenzies: Who’s afraid of little old us?

Can people fight back against medical misinformation? In the months after Paloma’s death, her brothers say they want to prevent other deaths, and they believe social media companies should take stronger action against medical misinformation. Meanwhile her Mum, Kate Shemirani, takes to social media to share a different account of her death. She has promoted a range of unproven theories on social media and podcasts about how Paloma was murdered by medical staff. The BBC has not seen evidence to support this. The BBC’s social media investigations correspondent Marianna Spring interrogates whether and how some politicians and social media companies are emboldening anti-medicine conspiracy theorists, and speaks to a former cancer surgeon and patient trying to bust cancer myths online.Host: Marianna Spring Producer: Anna Harris Story Editor: Matt Willis Sound Designer: Tony Churnside Editor: Sam Bonham Commissioning producer: Nathan Jones Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts This was a BBC collaboration with Panorama. Watch Cancer Conspiracy Theories on iPlayer now.

Are we equipped to deal with a rising tide of misinformation? The BBC’s social media investigations correspondent Marianna Spring investigates how safeguarding procedures work and how social services and hospitals are trying to deal with the mainstreaming of medical misinformation. She speaks to a social worker who says it’s time for the law to be reviewed in England and finds out more about what happened to Paloma in the months after she left hospital. Were there missed opportunities to help her?Host: Marianna Spring Producer: Anna Harris Story Editor: Matt Willis Sound Designer: Tony Churnside Editor: Sam Bonham Commissioning producer: Nathan Jones Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts This was a BBC collaboration with Panorama. Watch Cancer Conspiracy Theories on iPlayer now.

What are cancer patients seeing on social media? The BBC’s social media investigations correspondent Marianna Spring goes down the cancer conspiracy rabbit hole to find out. She returns to the days Paloma spent in hospital after her cancer diagnosis to analyse the advice Paloma was being given by medical staff versus the advice she was receiving from alternative practioners and her Mum, Kate Shemirani. Marianna investigates Paloma’s mum’s platform as a conspiracy theory influencer and looks at the wider role some social media sites are playing in turbocharging accounts that promote health misinformation. Plus, she speaks to the Vice President of Royal College of Radiologists to understand how harmful content on social media is affecting patients. Host: Marianna Spring Producer: Anna Harris Sound Designer: Tony Churnside Editor: Sam Bonham Commissioning producer: Nathan Jones Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts This was a BBC collaboration with Panorama.

Could the answer lie in the past? The BBC’s social media investigations correspondent, Marianna Spring, continues investigating what happened to Paloma Shemirani. She speaks to Paloma’s brothers to see if the answers could lie in the house they grew up in. Who is Paloma’s mum - prominent British conspiracy theorist influencer Kate Shemirani - and how did her beliefs evolve and impact Paloma and her siblings? Could her mum’s conspiracy theory views have influenced Paloma’s decision to reject chemotherapy?Host: Marianna Spring Producer: Anna Harris Story Editor: Matt Willis Sound Designer: Tony Churnside Editor: Sam Bonham Commissioning producer: Nathan Jones Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts This was a BBC collaboration with Panorama. Watch Cancer Conspiracy Theories on iPlayer now.

What happened to Paloma? Aged 22, Paloma Shemirani has her whole life ahead of her. She’s recently graduated, moved into a flat and found a job. But just days before Christmas in 2023 she receives bad news, she has cancer - an aggressive but treatable form of Lymphoma. Despite a good prognosis, Paloma decides - at least initially - to reject chemotherapy. The BBC’s social media investigations correspondent Marianna Spring investigates what happened and what this tells us about the mainstreaming of anti-medicine ideas. Host: Marianna Spring Producer: Anna Harris Story Editor: Matt Willis Sound Designer: Tony Churnside Editor: Sam Bonham Commissioning producer: Nathan Jones Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts This was a BBC collaboration with Panorama.

In Why Do You Hate Me? USA, BBC disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring is investigating how what’s happening online can shape the 2024 presidential election. In this episode, Marianna goes deep inside the world of a particular kind of social media tribe: the fandom. These groups revolve around the love for celebrities from pop stars like Taylor Swift to billionaire Elon Musk. And now political activists are operating a bit like fandoms to boost the chances of their favourite candidate. So could the social media tactics used by mega fans change the minds of voters in the upcoming election? And can the dedication fandoms inspire exist without trolling and hate? Host: Marianna Spring Producer: Daniel Wittenberg Story Editor: Matt Willis Editor: Sam Bonham Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Sound Designer: Tony Churnside Production Co-ordiantor: Katie Morrison

Few topics have caused as much division online as the deepening war in the Middle East. In this episode, Marianna is in New York investigating the experiences of students targeted on social media. They have been affected by doxxing – where their personal information is shared online triggering racist and misogynistic hate – by people wanting to make a wider political argument. The abuse that they have received has impacted each of their views in different but significant ways and potentially influenced their vote in the US presidential election. Marianna tracks down some of their trolls and confronts one of them.Host: Marianna Spring Producer: Daniel Wittenberg Story Editor: Matt Willis Editor: Sam Bonham Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Sound Design: Tony Churnside Production Co-ordinator: Rosie Strawbridge

A headteacher at a school in small American suburb of Baltimore was a prominent member of the local community. But many in the neighbourhood turned on Principal Eric Eiswert, after an audio clip emerged of him appearing to make racist and antisemitic remarks. Except, what no one knew then was that another bombshell would transform what they thought of the headteacher – and of themselves. In this episode of Why Do You Hate Me? USA, Marianna investigates the network of posts and people that can make it so hard to know what’s really going on, even down the street. She explores a new tool at the disposal of conspiracy theorists, trolls, and bad actors at the 2024 presidential election, and interrogates the damage it can cause to tightly-knit communities. Host: Marianna Spring Producer: Daniel Wittenberg Story Editor: Matt Willis Editor: Sam Bonham Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Sound Design: Tony Churnside Production Co-ordinator: Rosie Strawbridge

What are the real-world consequences of the belief that almost anything and everything can be staged or rigged – from assassination attempts to elections? In Why Do You Hate Me? USA, BBC disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring is investigating how what’s happening online can shape the 2024 presidential election. In this episode, Marianna continues her journey through Colorado to hear about what happens when some people no longer trust systems and institutions – and then send hate to the people they see complicit in unproven plots and conspiracies. She meets the election workers who feared for their safety after Donald Trump and some of his supporters falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen and public officials were overwhelmed with abuse and threats online. Could it possibly get worse this time around? Host: Marianna Spring Producers: Daniel Wittenberg & Emma Close Story Editor: Matt Willis Editor: Sam Bonham Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Sound Designer: Tony Churnside Production Co-ordinator: Rosie Strawbridge

Meet Camille and ‘Wild Mother’. Both women love nature, animals, and the outdoors. Both women also believe the assassination attempts on Donald Trump were staged – but have very different political views. Why do people believe the things they do? And what role do social media sites – and their algorithms – play? In this series, BBC disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring travels to the United States to investigate the social media backdrop to the 2024 presidential election and explore the different ways in which what is happening online is influencing the campaign offline. Marianna starts her journey in Colorado, looking at how conspiracy theories have spread so far across the political spectrum in the US. She interrogates the consequences for Camille, ‘Wild Mother’, and the upcoming election. Host: Marianna Spring Producers: Daniel Wittenberg & Emma Close Story Editor: Matt Willis Editor: Sam Bonham Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Sound Designer: Tony Churnside Production Co-ordinator: Rosie Strawbridge