Manchester Arena bomb survivors Martin and Eve Hibbert have launched a landmark legal action against conspiracy theorist Richard D Hall, who has claimed the 2017 attack was faked. The Hibberts, who were left with severe disabilities in the blast, are suing Mr Hall for defamation and harassment. It is the first time such action has been taken in the UK against a conspiracy theorist.
The family is seeking an injunction to restrain Mr Hall from making similar allegations in future and damages for some of the harm he has caused them. This echoes the action taken against US conspiracist Alex Jones, who was ordered to pay nearly $1.5bn by a US court to families of the US Sandy Hook school shooting after falsely claiming the 2012 attack was a hoax.
Martin Hibbert hopes the action will finally stop Mr Hall and set a UK precedent to help protect other people who survive disasters from these conspiracies and tactics. Following the BBC’s investigation, Mr Hall’s YouTube channel, with over 80,000 followers, was removed and his market stall closed. However, his books and DVDs featuring false claims about terror attacks are still for sale on his website, along with videos about the Manchester Arena Attack.
Manchester’s Mayor, Andy Burnham, has met Mr Hibbert to discuss campaigning for a new law that could better protect survivors of tragedies from harassment and conspiracy theories. But such legislation would not be straightforward – social media sites and policy makers have been grappling with hate and disinformation online for some time, with no simple solutions.
The UK is currently introducing new legislation – the online safety bill – that will mean social media sites have to make commitments to the regulator Ofcom, stating they will protect users. But there has been lots of debate over how far it will go and it has avoided directly addressing disinformation and abuse targeting adults online due to fears about freedom of expression. This kind of legislation could face the same opposition.
Martin and Eve Hibbert, survivors of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, have taken legal action against conspiracy theorist Richard D Hall. The Hibberts are suing Mr Hall for defamation and harassment, in what is believed to be the first case of its kind in the UK.
The family is seeking an injunction to prevent Mr Hall from making similar allegations in future, as well as damages for the harm he has caused them. This follows a similar case against US conspiracist Alex Jones, who was ordered to pay $1.5bn to families of the Sandy Hook school shooting after falsely claiming the attack was a hoax.
Martin Hibbert hopes his legal action will set a UK precedent to protect other survivors of disasters from conspiracies and harassment. Following the BBC’s investigation, Mr Hall’s YouTube channel was removed and his market stall closed. However, his books and DVDs featuring false claims about terror attacks are still available on his website.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has met with Mr Hibbert to discuss campaigning for a new law that could better protect survivors of tragedies from harassment and conspiracy theories. Such legislation is not straightforward though – social media sites and policy makers have been grappling with hate and disinformation online for some time, with no easy solutions.
The UK is introducing new legislation – the online safety bill – that will require social media sites to make commitments to the regulator Ofcom to protect users. However, it has avoided directly addressing disinformation and abuse targeting adults online due to fears about freedom of expression. This kind of legislation could face similar opposition.