#264: Don’t Believe Everything You Read on the Internet

As you browse the Internet today, keep an eye out for the things that may deserve a little fact-check. There's no end to how over-the-top or outrageous very real things can get; but you never really know if you're dealing with fact or fiction.

That idea was significantly less obvious to some a mere eight years ago.

Case in point: Hoaxed.

In the summer of 2014, after a vacation to Morocco, two children from the posh end of London claimed their father was the head of a Satan-worshipping pedophile ring. As if that weren't wild enough, they claimed 175 parents and teachers at their school in the affluent suburb of Hampstead were also in on it.

The children later recanted when Scotland Yard found no truth to the report. The mother and her partner (not the father) were behind the absurd and torturous lie and had pressured the children into making these claims.

Despite zero merits to the story, it was shared online for anyone to latch onto. A firestorm of opinion and false rhetoric overtook the truth. The people falsely accused of participating in Satanic rituals and organized sexual abuse wound up being harassed and bombarded by death threats that continue to this day.

The conspiracy theory about a Satan-worshiping pedophile ring in Hampstead also persists to this day.

Known for his award-winning podcast Sweet Bobby, journalist Alexi Mostrous outdoes the standard he previously set while unpacking the lie that led to a preposterous conspiracy theory whose flames could only ever be fanned in this post-truth world.

In this six-episode series, Mostrous follows the story of this hoax back to its starting point in Morocco. He prods at the makeup of a 21st-century hoax, uncovering what it takes for things to spill over from off the screen and into the real world.

Have a listen and share what you think.

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