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BBC World Service


In-depth reporting on the world of social media.


BBC Trending's podcast feed is closing, but we'll be publishing new episodes in the BBC World Service's Documentary Podcast from now on. Search for The Documentary wherever you get your BBC podcasts, and subscribe to get new episodes of BBC Trending along with a range of exciting new documentaries from around the world.

Colombia’s guerrilla recruitment video problem

Jusper Machogu is a farmer from southwestern Kenya who describes himself as a “climate sceptic”: he wrongly claims that climate change is a “scam” or a “hoax” designed to hold Africa back. On social media, he has also become known as a staunch defender of fossil fuel exploration in Africa. 

His views have caught the eye of those in the West who, like him, deny the overwhelming scientific consensus on global warming. They have helped him grow his following and spread his message globally. But, in doing so, has Mr Machogu unwittingly become a tool for the fossil fuel industry? And, on a rapidly warming planet, just how dangerous is the message of social media influencers like him? 

Presenter/producer: Marco Silva
Editor: Flora Carmichael

The Kenyan influencer championing climate denial

Farmers' protests have been erupting across Europe, and on February 20th one image from a protest in Poland went viral. It showed a tractor carrying a soviet flag and bearing a slogan calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to ‘bring order to Ukraine, Brussels and our rulers.’ The man driving the tractor was arrested and is currently awaiting trial. After the image was released Poland’s foreign ministry spokesperson released a statement warning of attempts to take over the country’s agricultural protest movement by extreme and irresponsible groups ‘possibly under the influence of Russian agents.’ In this episode of BBC Trending, we attempt to track down the man behind the banner. Who is he? And what’s the evidence for Russian involvement in, or amplification of, farmers’ protests in Poland and beyond?

Is Russia targeting Poland's farmers’ protests?

In a viral thread posted on X in January this year, a 23-year-old Russian man claims he used ChatGPT to filter through and chat thousands of women on Tinder, eventually proposing to one that was selected by the algorithm.
The scale and success of his experiment sparked scepticism. Some raised doubts about the technical plausibility of it, while others voiced concerns about the ethical implications of such an endeavour.
In an attempt to better understand his experiment, BBC Trending interviewed the Russian man and asked experts what they made of it. 
As AI becomes more advanced and accessible, the story also highlights broader concerns about the future of this technology in online dating. How will AI reshape the landscape of online dating in the coming years? What biases may be inherent in its algorithms? Is using AI in this manner a form of catfishing? 
Presenter: Olga Robinson
Producer: Marta Pausilli
Editor: Flora Carmichael

Love and deception in the age of AI

Long Covid can ruin lives, and scientists are striving to understand the condition and beginning to get some early clues about possible treatments. While there are still more questions than answers, though, many have turned online for help. But could what they find there sometimes do more harm than good? Rachel Schraer goes undercover to investigate the Lightning Process, a controversial treatment programme being promoted online for Long Covid. 
Reporter: Rachel Schraer 
Producer: Paul Grant 
Editor: Flora Carmichael

Long Covid: Think yourself well?

In 2024 yet another Kennedy is making a bid for the White House. Robert F Kennedy Jr - nephew of the late President John F Kennedy - is enjoying strong polling numbers for an independent candidate. He’s running on a platform of promising to take on powerful vested interests to create a better life for the average American. 

But away from his Camelot-infused stump speeches, he is facing questions about his long and controversial record of spreading misinformation about the safety of vaccines.

In this episode, the BBC’s Health and Disinformation Reporter Rachel Schraer investigates how Kennedy is building a base from across the political spectrum, inspite of, or because of, his views on public health policy.

The anti-vax candidate?

In 2011, Tunisians took to the streets against the ruling authoritarian regime. Catalysed by social media, the protests would reverberate around the world, spark the Arab Spring and lead to significant democratic reforms in the country. 

More recently, Tunisia’s democracy has reached a turning point. In 2021, as public frustration with the pandemic and the failing economy grew, the Tunisian President Kais Saied sacked the prime minister, suspended parliament and pushed through constitutional reforms consolidating his power.

And now, it appears online debate is being suppressed. BBC Trending speaks to people who have experienced first hand how social media can be used to survey and attack the government’s critics.

Democracy on the brink in Tunisia?

In Malaysian Borneo, indigenous people have struggled for land rights against companies and the state. Using new mapping technology, communities in Borneo’s rainforests are racing to prove their claims. In this episode of Trending we’ll be exploring how technology and social media are being used and misused to shift the balance of power.

Reporter: Jacqui Wakefield
Producer: Olivia Lang
Editor: Flora Carmichael

The new fight for land rights

Marianna Spring talks to a survivor of the mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017 about how posts on a social media account made him question an event he’d witnessed with his own eyes.

Presenter: Marianna Spring
Producers: Ben Carter and Emma Close
Editor: Flora Carmichael
Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell

Fear and conspiracies in Las Vegas

Why are there so many conspiracy videos on YouTube? The company has clamped down on extremist and dangerous content, but conspiracies, outright fakes, and hoaxes are still very easy to find. Sometimes they’re only watched by a few people, but often these videos go viral.
 
The reason why they so often pop up on your screen, says former Google employee Guillaume Chaslot, is YouTube’s algorithm. Chaslot was one of the engineers who helped shape the YouTube recommendation engine, the mechanism that determines which videos the site suggests you watch next. 
 
He was sacked in 2013, and since then he has become a critic of the company. He now says that YouTube’s obsession with keeping people watching has turned the platform into an incubator for false, incendiary, and sensationalist content – and this, in turn, is having a very real impact on the world we live in.
 
Presenter: Marco Silva

Photo caption: YouTube logo on a smartphone
Photo credit: Getty Images

How YouTube decides what you should watch

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