Can people fight back against medical misinformation? In the months after Paloma’s death, her brothers say they want to prevent other deaths, and they believe social media companies should take stronger action against medical misinformation. Meanwhile her Mum, Kate Shemirani, takes to social media to share a different account of her death. She has promoted a range of unproven theories on social media and podcasts about how Paloma was murdered by medical staff. The BBC has not seen evidence to support this. The BBC’s social media investigations correspondent Marianna Spring interrogates whether and how some politicians and social media companies are emboldening anti-medicine conspiracy theorists, and speaks to a former cancer surgeon and patient trying to bust cancer myths online.Host: Marianna Spring
Producer: Anna Harris
Story Editor: Matt Willis
Sound Engineer: Tony Churnside
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Editor: Sam Bonham
Commissioning producer: Nathan Jones
Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts
This was a BBC collaboration with Panorama. Watch Cancer Conspiracy Theories on iPlayer now.
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24:09
4. The Archaeologists
Are we equipped to deal with a rising tide of misinformation? The BBC’s social media investigations correspondent Marianna Spring investigates how safeguarding procedures work and how social services and hospitals are trying to deal with the mainstreaming of medical misinformation. She speaks to a social worker who says it’s time for the law to be reviewed in England and finds out more about what happened to Paloma in the months after she left hospital. Were there missed opportunities to help her?Host: Marianna Spring
Producer: Anna Harris
Story Editor: Matt Willis
Sound Engineer: Tony Churnside
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Editor: Sam Bonham
Commissioning producer: Nathan Jones
Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts
This was a BBC collaboration with Panorama. Watch Cancer Conspiracy Theories on iPlayer now.
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22:57
3. Down the cancer conspiracy rabbit hole
What are cancer patients seeing on social media? The BBC’s social media investigations correspondent Marianna Spring goes down the cancer conspiracy rabbit hole to find out. She returns to the days Paloma spent in hospital after her cancer diagnosis to analyse the advice Paloma was being given by medical staff versus the advice she was receiving from alternative practioners and her Mum, Kate Shemirani. Marianna investigates Paloma’s mum’s platform as a conspiracy theory influencer and looks at the wider role some social media sites are playing in turbocharging accounts that promote health misinformation. Plus, she speaks to the Vice President of Royal College of Radiologists to understand how harmful content on social media is affecting patients.Host: Marianna Spring
Producer: Anna Harris
Story Editor: Matt Willis
Sound Engineer: Tony Churnside
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Editor: Sam Bonham
Commissioning producer: Nathan Jones
Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts
This was a BBC collaboration with Panorama. Watch Cancer Conspiracy Theories on iPlayer now.
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30:42
2. Conspiracyland at home
Could the answer lie in the past? The BBC’s social media investigations correspondent, Marianna Spring, continues investigating what happened to Paloma Shemirani. She speaks to Paloma’s brothers to see if the answers could lie in the house they grew up in. Who is Paloma’s mum - prominent British conspiracy theorist influencer Kate Shemirani - and how did her beliefs evolve and impact Paloma and her siblings? Could her mum’s conspiracy theory views have influenced Paloma’s decision to reject chemotherapy?Host: Marianna Spring
Producer: Anna Harris
Story Editor: Matt Willis
Sound Engineer: Tony Churnside
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Editor: Sam Bonham
Commissioning producer: Nathan Jones
Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts
This was a BBC collaboration with Panorama. Watch Cancer Conspiracy Theories on iPlayer now.
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29:32
1. The Dove and the Pigeon
What happened to Paloma? Aged 22, Paloma Shemirani has her whole life ahead of her. She’s recently graduated, moved into a flat and found a job. But just days before Christmas in 2023 she receives bad news, she has cancer - an aggressive but treatable form of Lymphoma. Despite a good prognosis, Paloma decides - at least initially - to reject chemotherapy. The BBC’s social media investigations correspondent Marianna Spring investigates what happened and what this tells us about the mainstreaming of anti-medicine ideas. Host: Marianna Spring
Producer: Anna Harris
Story Editor: Matt Willis
Sound Engineer: Tony Churnside
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Editor: Sam Bonham
Commissioning producer: Nathan Jones
Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts This was a BBC collaboration with Panorama.
Ireland