Fabricated headline about far-right conspiracy theories attributed to The Guardian

By: Umme Kulsum
July 11 2023

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Context

A screenshot of a supposed opinion piece published by The Guardian headlined "A far-right conspiracy theory is always a far-right conspiracy theory, irrespective of whether it's actually true or not" is widely circulating on social media. The opinion piece appears to have been penned by Marianna Spring, a BBC journalist who specializes in disinformation and social media. The screenshot has Springs's image at the lower right corner and a June 25 dateline and has the design elements of The Guardian's website. The sub-headline of the piece reads: "In fact, the more true it is, the more of a far-right conspiracy theory it is. That's what The Settled Science™ says, anyway." Archive of the post can be accessed here.

In Fact

Logically Facts could not find any such article by Marianna Spring for The Guardian. No opinion piece or report is published on the outlet's website with the headline mentioned in the viral claim. The Guardian's social media accounts have also shared no such story. 

The British daily has confirmed that the screenshot circulating on the internet is, in fact, fabricated. "We can confirm that the link shared has never been published as a Guardian headline or story," the news outlet told Logically Facts. 

On June 17, The Guardian published an article about BBC Radio 4's new podcast 'Marianna in Conspiracyland.' The article is about Spring's latest podcast, where she dives into conspiracy campaigns in the United Kingdom. Spring's photo in this article is the same as the image used in the viral screenshot; however, The Guardian never published any piece claiming that a "far-right conspiracy theory is always a far-right conspiracy theory" irrespective of whether it is "true or not." Logically Facts has also contacted Mariana Spring for comment; the story will be updated once we receive a response.

Numerous websites let social media users write their own headlines in the style and format used by The Guardian and generate images to give the impression the latter published the headline, and this is not the first time fake headlines have been attributed to publication. Such fabricated articles have been emerging on the internet in an attempt to spread disinformation and discredit the news organization. 

The Verdict

Marianna Spring did not author an opinion piece about far-right conspiracy theories for The Guardian. The news website confirmed that it never published a headline or a story to claim far-right conspiracies remain conspiracies regardless of the truth. Therefore, we mark this claim false.