Focusing on where the disinformation really lies

BBC's attack on The Light exposes its own failings

- MATTHEW LUNDQUIST

WATCHING the three-hour dual-interview on Rumble between the BBC's Marianna Spring and The Light's Darren Nesbit, I felt a glimmer of hope that Spring might actually be sincere and acting in good faith.

Yet, the final cut of Conspiracyland: UK? put an end to that illusion. I would argue it is highly edited and deceptively presented. Should I really be surprised? It is obvious to me now that Spring came to The Light with a pre-established narrative she was hell-bent on confirming.

Despite the pleasantries, Spring is a predator on the prowl for soundbites and 'gotcha' moments. "Do you think the U.S. Government were behind 9/11?" her off-camera assistant pushes as the interview winds up.

Behind the mask, there's a ruthlessness and desperation at play: the BBC aren't here to learn about Nesbit after all; they're here to portray him as part of the lunatic fringe, to lock him inside a conceptual box, and throw away the key. They don't succeed.

For a start, Spring is fixated on the wrong axis of the political compass. She uses the left/right axis to understand the world whereas it is more important to study the authoritarian/ libertarian axis to prevent the greatest harms.

She also makes the error of conflating authoritarianism with the political right. They are independent axes. In any case, the left has been the far deadlier force throughout human history.

In short, in my opinion, she's got her political compass upside down and back to front.