At an RTS event last month, BBC correspondent Marianna Spring discussed being on the receiving end of abuse from trolls supporting Elon Musk – and how she deals with it.

Investigating social media, she explained, “triggers a wave of trolls and conspiracy theorists in a way that I didn’t used to experience. But I think, for me, the most positive way of dealing with that is [to think] I wouldn’t be doing my job right if... I wasn’t getting that kind of response.”

In 2023, Spring, the BBC’s first Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent, wrote an article for BBC News about the increase in trolling and abuse on Twitter, which Musk mockingly retweeted. As a result, she received more than 80% of all online abuse directed at BBC journalists in the first six months of that year.

“There are people who do not like [my] kind of investigative journalism – they don’t want you to do it. And so you find yourself subject to abuse that goes way beyond legitimate criticism... people sending you rape threats, death threats, really extreme abuse,” said Spring, who was in conversation with ITN’s Kim Rowell.

There were, however, positive aspects: “It enriches my understanding of the world, I investigate because it helps me better understand the tactics at play, how hate can be used to target individuals... and who shares it and why. How it can often trigger what I call the shock troops.”

Discussing Musk specifically, Spring said: “It’s very important to be able to hold the social media companies who are very rich and powerful accountable. Someone like Elon Musk spends a lot of time talking about how the media do not hold power to account and suggesting that we kind of parrot what we’re told to say... [which is] not my experience, certainly of the journalism I do.

“And so I find it a worry when someone like that will not do an interview, will not speak to you, will not answer your questions, but then will send trolls your way, whether intentionally or not.”

She added: “I’m the Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent at the BBC and not a single boss at a social media company has agreed to speak to me on any issue for more than two years, if not more, which is pretty revealing.”

Discussing this month’s US elections, Spring said the closeness of the Trump- Harris battle meant that fake audio or AI-generated images could make a difference. “I’ve investigated examples of fake images showing black voters supporting Donald Trump. I’ve then spoken to real voters who believed those to be true, and that solidified or impacted their opinions. It’s all of that kind of stuff that could actually have a tangible impact.”

She added that disinformation could still prove dangerous post-election: “It might affect how people behave once the vote has happened and whether they believe violence to be justified.”

Social media is often a cess-pool but, despite this, Spring has retained a positive outlook. “So many of the people I meet who are drawn into conspiracy theories... are often perfectly nice. You meet them and you ask them questions, and they’ve kind of behaved in a way that they either regret or they don’t realise the impact of what they’re doing.”

She added: “I meet so many brave people who stand up against conspiracy theories and trolling.

“I think of Manchester Arena survivors who’ve experienced horrendous conspiracy theories and tactics targeting them, of really brave grieving parents whose children have been harmed and lost their lives because of, in part, social media, and who’ve shown such courage.

“So there are people who are really willing to... stand up against this stuff. And I think that’s so inspiring.” 

‘Misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories’ was an RTS Technology online event on 10 October. It was hosted and produced by Kim Rowell, ITN’s Managing Editor of News Production.