7. I helped bring down Alex Jones

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

Om Podcasten

What happens when tragedy makes you a target? Why would anybody accuse terrorism survivors of being liars and "crisis actors"?The BBC's disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring investigates how people caught up in the Manchester Arena bombing and other UK terror attacks, are targeted with extreme conspiracy theories, online abuse and threats. Some are even hunted down offline. It's a phenomenon we might usually associate with the US, and the billion dollar damages ruling against Alex Jones for claiming the Sandy Hook school shootings were faked. But Marianna uncovers shocking evidence that British trolls are also blighting the lives of people right here in the UK, who now want answers and justice.