Study reveals terrorism conspiracy theories in the UK

A study by the Policy Institute at King’s College London for BBC Panorama and BBC Radio 4 podcasts has revealed that one in five people in the UK believe that victims of terror attacks in the UK are not being truthful about what happened to them.

Four in five people people believe that terrorist attacks have taken place in the UK in recent years, and a third say they don't believe the official story has told the whole truth.

One in seven people said it's definitely or probably true that there were "crisis actors" pretending to be killed at the Manchester Arena attack, but people weren't actually injured or killed. One in eight people say that it's definitely or probably true that the 7/7 attacks were probably a hoax.

Furthermore, one in six people believe that it's definitely or probably true that the attacks did happen, but they were not carried out by terrorists.

There is also widespread belief that information about these attacks is being suppressed, with a quarter of people saying it's definitely or probably true that the mainstream media and government officials are involved in a conspiracy to cover up important information about the Manchester Arena attack.

With regards to the US, a quarter of people in the UK say it's definitely or probably true that some in the US government assisted with or did not stop the 9/11 attacks, because they wanted to go to war in the US and one in six believe that at least some school shootings in the US have been hoaxes.

Belief in the conspiracy theories tends to be higher among younger people and people who get much of their news from social media.

One in four people aged 18 to 34 believe that the 7/7 attacks were a hoax compared to just 4 per cent of those over 65.

It was also found that men are twice as likely than women to say that the Manchester Arena attack was probably a hoax.

Professor Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, said: “Significant minorities of the UK public say they believe outlandish conspiracy theories on terror attacks, even that high-profile terror attacks such as the 7/7 bombings in London and the Manchester Arena attack were a hoax, involved 'crisis actors' or that they weren’t carried out by terrorists. Overall, around one in 11 of the UK population fall into a group who can be classed as strongly believing such conspiracies. This type of extreme belief is at the end of a much wider funnel of suspicion and distrust, where around four in 10 think there are so many conflicting accounts it’s hard to know what to believe and around three in 10 do not believe the whole truth is being told about these incidents.

“There are clear characteristics of those who tip from this suspicion into conspiracism, with younger people, those who get a lot of their information from social media and messaging platforms, and those who’re disengaged from mainstream politics being most likely to believe conspiracies. Of course, this doesn’t mean that social media use causes these beliefs, rather than attracting those already susceptible, or that it is an easy task to crack down on the sharing or fuelling of conspiracies. But it is a key and growing challenge that governments and platforms need to engage with.”

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