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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 ask questions or try to leave, that’s when the trouble really starts. BBC Trending's series Trolled lifts the lid...

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 Died Suddenly released last year appears to have supercharged this practice- termed “ghouling”. BBC Trending investigates how far the Died Suddenly film has spread...

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 a Congressman whose series of ambiguous or misleading posts on Twitter got millions of views and an Argentine political consultant whose false c...

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. The group claims to have succeeded in getting hundreds of users booted off the platform, but their methods aren’t without controversy. As...

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 - hoping that one day Myanmar will return to democracy. But these women have also been on the receiving end of targeted online attacks which h...

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 world’s most influential social media platforms. She speaks to former insiders and examines evidence that suggests trolling and hate are thriving...

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 joined the fray, exploiting emotive content in a bid to siphon cash from the catastrophe. And second - TikTok livestreams featuring Syrian refugees pleading for help are...

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 he was ordered to pay nearly £1.5 billion in defamation damages for falsely claiming that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax Parents of some of the 22 people...

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 Akon says will provide financial independence for Africans, although some people are dissatisfied after investing in the dream and having nothing to sho...

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? Presenter: Mike Wendling Producer: Elizabeth Hotson

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 of crypto coins. Presenter: Joe Tidy Producers: Jerry Sullivan and Beth Godwin Editor: Flora Carmichael

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 quietly growing without much scrutiny. Ria – not her real name – fell prey to one of the largest schemes operating in the country. In an exclusive interview for BBC Trending, she reveals how she wa...

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 went wrong? We hear from a social media star who hyped the company up, a former employee who sold the scheme to the public, and a student who staked...

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, public officials, and even primary school teachers. But how did this hoaxer get away with it for so long? And how did an eagle-eyed 15-year-old eventually manage...

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 meet the anti-abortion campaigners spreading false claims that clinically approved pills are dangerous and pro-choice supporters promoting dodgy herbal rem...

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 messages. Critics say that paid political messages are swamping social media – but they aren’t declared as adverts, and instead they pose as genuine political opinion. We meet...

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 says he wants to use his platform to “make the world a better place”. He has thrown his weight behind two viral environmental campaigns: #TeamTrees and #TeamSeas. Together, t...

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 years ago, the QAnon movement in Japan has morphed through several different phases, becoming ever more extreme in the process. Its latest incarnation is a group c...

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. It’s all a complete fantasy, but that hasn’t prevented her attracting a sizeable following which helps fund her tours around her kingdom in a fleet of...

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 in places like Moscow and Siberia? The third part of Trending’s mini-series about the global impact of QAnon investigates its growing popularity in Rus...

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 QAnon is the baseless claim that former US president Donald Trump is waging a secret war against a cabal of powerful paedophiles who run American politics and Hollywood. But...

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 tactics have changed. Members of a coalition assembled by a QAnon influencer are running for public office in more than a dozen states, targeting positions that...

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 to prominence after some of its proponents created Bulli Bai, an app that pretended to auction off prominent Muslim women - making them the targets of abuse and...

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 feels like a lost cause: a job so big and complex, that it is doomed for failure - the demise of the human species is inevitable. This is wrong. But even though this view is p...

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 consoles. The country’s gaming industry is unique – forged by a combination of strict import laws under military rule, homegrown talent and later, high prices which...