The BBC can reveal connections between a German publication linked to a failed coup attempt and a UK conspiracy theory newspaper that calls for the trial and execution of politicians and medical professionals.
The Light, a publication that publishes at least 100,000 copies per month and has more than 18,000 followers on the social media platform Telegram, became a focal point of the UK conspiracy theory movement due to its anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown stance during the pandemic.
The Light has shared violent and hateful rhetoric against journalists, doctors, and members of parliament in its pages and on related Telegram channels. It has also given a platform to far-right figures who have been charged with antisemitism.
The newspaper is distributed free by volunteers in dozens of communities across the nation, where local officials have accused it of inciting conflict and harassment with exaggerated claims about vaccines, the financial system, and climate change—among other less noteworthy articles on local politics, health, and wellness.
The Light has shared articles and content that have demanded that the government, medical professionals, and journalists be held accountable for "crimes against humanity" in war crime-style trials sometimes referred to as "Nuremberg 2.0" – a reference to the execution of Nazi Party members following World War Two.
Recent reports assert that "MPs, doctors, and nurses can be hanged" and that "It's only a matter of time before these worst war crime perpetrators are facing trial" like in "November 1945.".
Other posts published by the Light on Telegram included illustrations of the gallows and the workplaces of "liable people to be held to account" for their involvement in evil schemes to harm people with vaccines, schemes for which there is no proof.
The newspaper also shared and supported Patriotic Alternative's content on Telegram, which promoted rallies and posts discussing the "replacement" of white people and urged people to "Get Involved.".
It has also shared articles from an extreme group called Alpha Men Assemble that trains anti-vaccine activists in military tactics. They assert that "it's time we showed them who controls this nation.".
The editor of the Light, Darren Nesbit, defended calls in his publication to use force against "aggressors" in authority, telling the BBC that it would be a matter of "self-defence" in situations like when the government orders yet another lockdown or what he described as forced evacuations.
Although he admits they are connected to the paper directly, he claims he isn't in charge of the Light's Telegram channels. Both his name and the "Light Paper Team" will occasionally end posts.
The editor of the German conspiracy newspaper Demokratischer Widerstand (Democratic Resistance), which is linked to a failed coup attempt in the nation, is reportedly spoken to by Mr. Nesbit "two or three times a year," according to Mr. Nesbit. He has written articles endorsing the book.
The Light is referred to by the German newspaper as its "partner" paper and its "colleagues" at the British journal, indicating how they are "internationally connected.".
Matt Jukes, the UK's Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, told the BBC that there is "evidence of conspiracy theories being interwoven with extremism" at the moment, and that this "connection is very much on our radar and in our sights as investigators," in reference to worries about the larger conspiracy theory movement in general.
The Light was established in 2020 as a print publication, and it is available in about 30 locations across the UK, including Brighton, Thetford, Stroud, Plymouth, Oxford, Bristol, Manchester, and Glastonbury. Local conspiracy theory groups buy in bulk and hand them out for free on the streets.
For the past two years, a dedicated minority has been dispersing the Light in the Devon town of Totnes. Ben Piper, the town's former mayor, claims that the conspiracy movement there made him a primary target initially because of his role in enforcing coronavirus restrictions.
He fears an article about him in the Light exacerbated the harassment he experienced - from abuse in the street, to sinister phone calls, to someone driving a car at him.
"There was an aggression that bled through the editorial that was not as innocent as it was making out to be," he says.
Darren Nesbit, the editor of The Light, resides close to Manchester. Only on the condition that he can question me and record the conversation did he agree to speak with me.
For him, everything from financial turmoil to climate change and 9/11 terror attacks in the US are part of a plan by governments to control and harm our lives. He thinks the pandemic was just one step towards doing that.
The paper has featured an article by a blogger called Lasha Darkmoon, saying that people should be able to question the Holocaust. And another article recommended a book by white supremacist Eustace Mullins - author of The Biological Jew and Adolf Hitler: An Appreciation. Mullins is referred to in the Light as a "renowned" author.
"If they write good articles on topics that are useful topics that are interesting to people, then we should [feature them] at the end of the day," Mr Nesbit says. He reiterates again and again that "people should be adults and make their own decisions".
"My aim is not to do anything else apart from get to the truth and then obviously let other people have a bash at seeing that information as well. ".
The Light directly defended a UK-based radio host called Graham Hart over antisemitic remarks he made on his show referring to Jewish people as "filth" and like "rats", suggesting "they deserve to be wiped out". He was sentenced to 32 months in prison for making the remarks.
While Mr Nesbit says those comments were "pretty harsh", he maintains that the paper defends the radio host's "right to say it".
I ask him whether he thinks calls for action in the paper could result in action that's not peaceful.
He replies, "Of course, people can make their own decisions, and they need to be responsible for their own actions. " .
He tells me that the paper doesn't "actually necessarily call for action". But, Mr Nesbit also says, "People should not be passive and just let the world change around them because there is, you know, an agenda and a purpose behind it. ".
I directly ask him, "Why don't you say there's no place for violence in our movement?".
He replies, "Because I might be wrong. ".
Throughout the interview, Mr Nesbit condemns violent action - and then gives cryptic answers, which seem to contradict that.
Telegram has not responded to the BBC's request for comment about why it has allowed the Light and other conspiracy theory papers to share violent and hateful rhetoric.
Research carried up by King's College London backs up the idea that calls to action endorsed by conspiracy theory media like the Light could be affecting attitudes.
A survey, commissioned by the BBC, suggested that an average of 61.5 percent of people - when asked questions about attending rallies linked to common conspiracy theories, such as anti-vaccine beliefs - think violence could be justified at protests. They were more likely to think this if they read conspiracy theory media including the Light.
"Built within these theories [are] inherent demands to do something, to take direct action," says research team member Dr Rod Dacombe, who has studied the Light.
"We shouldn't get away from [how] this occasionally moves into either violence or some sort of violent right action. Not everybody who goes to a protest is going to be brought in by this. Most people won't, right? But some people will. ".
As well as links with the German paper Demokratischer Widerstand, The Light has related papers in Ireland, Canada and Australia.
Two whistleblowers spoke to the BBC over concerns about how radical they say the German paper has become. .
They say some of the Demokratischer Widerstand's writers and a key donor to the paper met the Reichsburger group behind a failed coup attempt in Germany in December 2022.
One of the whistleblowers, lawyer Markus Heinz, who stopped writing for the paper in 2022, says the editor, Anselm Lenz, is an "extremist" which he defines as someone who "brings people in a position where they at least could think about getting violent".
Mr Heinz also says members of the wider conspiracy theory movement in Germany have been offered money by Kremlin-linked figures to push disinformation.
The other, Martin Le Jeune, who stopped writing for the paper in 2021 says it is creating a "hateful and divided" atmosphere, where "somebody who could be emotional or psychologically unstable could be triggered to do something terrible".
The editor of the German conspiracy paper, Mr Lenz, did not reply directly to any of the points raised by the BBC. He called me "a highly paid Nato and BBC Propagandist'' and said I was a threat to him and his family. He also accused me of slander of "our friends of the great English democratic movement".
"If needed, we are willing to take the fight by all means," he wrote.
What happened to the people who fell down the rabbit hole into a world of conspiracy theories during the pandemic?
Listen to the podcast Marianna in Conspiracyland on BBC Sounds.
