For as long as people have talked, conspiracy theories have run riot. And while sometimes they’re nothing more than the result of festering boredom or curiosity turned conjecture, they can be extremely dangerous, especially during times of uncertainty. A conspiracy…
The past month has seen a flurry of successive outrage campaigns from political figures on the right over what has been described by sitting Senators and even a US President as ‘cancel culture’. Prominent examples include Gina Carano’s firing from…
Those who hate Piers Morgan miss the point. He exists in the media space as a figure to be hated, or, for those who ‘love’ him, to direct their hate against groups who allegedly threaten his disproportionately older, socially conservative…
When summer returns to Britain this year, there is concerted hope that a return to normality will bring with it a period of reconciliation and progress, no matter how abstract it may seem now. Yet, hidden among the toppled rubble…
On Friday 19th February, Australians awoke to find that something was a little off about their Facebook feeds. Not only were they unable to share news from local or international outlets on their pages, but they also couldn’t even see…
There is an impression in Britain, that we are a nation of people that tends to give people a chance to show their colours before we judge them. Increasingly, it feels as if that impression is being removed or replaced…
This end of year review is part of a series from Backbench’s editorial team as they consider some of the themes that have dominated 2020. The views expressed in these reviews are those of the editors themselves and do not…
This end of year review is part of a series from Backbench’s editorial team as they consider some of the themes that have dominated 2020. The views expressed in these reviews are those of the editors themselves and do not…
Regularly, we read, hear, and see discussions about misinformation – ‘fake news’ – an increasingly normalised part of everyday language and debate. However, online misinformation is often seen as a generational problem, which influences older, less tech-savvy and unsuspecting individuals.…
In 2020, 45 million people or 66% of the total UK population had an active social media presence. That pales in comparison to usage in countries in Asia and North America where between 70-90% of the population have social media…