False theories spread on social media – like those around Princess Kate – can “cause serious harm,” an expert said.
Marianna Spring, a disinformation and social media correspondent for the BBC, examined conspiracy theories surrounding Princess of Wales, 42, since her abdominal surgery in January.
People online have shared wild claims a body-double is actually pictured in footage taken at Windsor Farm Shop on Saturday but, as the Mirror has highlighted, it is Kate in the clip alongside Prince William. Nevertheless, internet trolls continue to spread inaccuracies online about the future queen’s health.
Writing for the BBC, Marianna said: “Both genuine questions and wild claims have been triggered by her absence from public life, following abdominal surgery in January. Kensington Palace has said the princess is recovering and is expected to return to public duties after Easter.
“This social media frenzy, which the media also contributes to and which fills a vacuum of information, mirrors others that I’ve investigated – and that have caused serious harm to the real people at their centre. It can cause hurt to family and friends, and more widely, it erodes public trust.”
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katemiddletonlookalike/Instagram)
It was bizarrely claimed a well-known professional impersonator was in the video taken on Saturday. However, Heidi Agan exclusively told The Mirror yesterday it was not her – and she was busy at work more than 120 miles away at the time the media was taken.
Kensington Palace has said the princess is recovering and is expected to return to public duties after Easter. Last week, Kate apologised for editing an image Prince William reportedly took of her and their three children for Mother’s Day.
“There is no suggestion this new footage has been altered in any way, but it has sparked yet more conspiracy theories – and satire – all the same,” Marianna said.
“The body-double conspiracy theory, which originated on social media, wasn’t just recommended on my TikTok feed. It was also promoted to me on X, formerly known as Twitter. Both of the sites’ algorithms push content based on what it thinks users might want to see. Throughout the day, dozens of other videos and posts promoting this conspiracy theory were actively recommended to me on both my TikTok ‘For You Page’ and my feed on X.”
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AP)
In less than 24 hours, the false claims about a body-double had racked up more than 12 million views on X and more than 11 million on TikTok, according to the social media sites’ own data. The X accounts were often based in the US, and dedicated to posting about the Princess of Wales on an almost hourly basis.
Several had blue ticks. These check-marks used to be given to verified accounts. Now they can be purchased in exchange for your content getting more prominence on the social media site.
And one TikToker, called Esmerelda who reached 2.9 million people with her body-double video, said she hadn’t posted about the Royal Family before but was motivated by “real public concern”. The woman, from the US, told the BBC: “I usually try to respond to people who are making claims, and summarise what’s being said in general – whether I agree with the same theory or not,” she told me. If I find out a specific theory [that] people had was definitely way off, then I never have an issue with making another video and saying: ‘Hey, this theory has now been debunked and this is why.'”
According to TikTok’s guidelines, the social media site does not allow “misleading, or false content that may cause significant harm to individuals or society, regardless of intent”. It also previously said the site is “reducing the reach of content that advances conspiracies” about the Royal Family and other powerful groups being part of sinister plots without evidence. X says in its guidelines that defending and respecting the user’s voice is one of its core values.
The Mirror has approached Kensington Palace.
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