FACT Aotearoa News Briefs 28 September 2026

‘Just cut the wires’: why UK conspiracy theorists are destroying traffic scanners - The Guardian
Most people view traffic lights as helpful landmarks that keep road and pavement users safe. To a group who call themselves “Blade Runners”, however, the traffic scanners installed above them increasingly conceal a sinister purpose: to install “phased array electronic assault weapons” on city streets that they claim can carry out mass surveillance and even cause cancer, dementia and sudden death.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/19/uk-conspiracy-theorists-destroying-traffic-scanners

How 9/11 defined the conspiracy culture we live in today - SBS News
Loose Change, a 2005 documentary by Korey Rowe and Dylan Avery, became an early internet blockbuster by promoting 9/11 conspiracy theories. Though these theories have been thoroughly debunked, the distrust of government and elites they fuelled persists today.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/9-11-conspiracy-theories-loose-change-documentary/h5bn6grxo

Dismantling Disinformation - American Libraries
Propaganda and disinformation are the flipside of the same coin. Understanding the complex relationships among these interrelated processes is more critical than ever, especially as libraries explore possible solutions and responses. The following books show how disinformation can lead to censorship and how censorship can, in turn, allow disinformation to thrive.
https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2026/09/01/dismantling-disinformation/

How the ‘poisonous tide’ of disinformation spreads division and despair - The Guardian
“We’re talking about an insidious campaign that reaches into people’s homes and twists what they feel about their own country and community – creating a narrative of decline, stoking division and sowing despair,”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/23/how-the-poisonous-tide-of-disinformation-stokes-division-and-sows-despair

When stubbornness becomes a security problem: How AI agents can manipulate others - TechXplore
Imagine a neighbor who persistently claims you make noise at night. Others initially disagree, but the neighbor keeps trying to convince them. Their success depends not only on their stubbornness but also on how well connected they are and how willing others are to change their minds.
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-stubbornness-problem-ai-agents.html

Patrick Clancy describes holding his dying son - and being the focus of conspiracy theories during the Lindsay Clancy trial - RNZ / CNN
Patrick Clancy says he thought he was doing the best he could in the months leading up to the day his then-wife Lindsay Clancy strangled their three children in their Massachusetts home. Now, more than three years later, he's trying to navigate a new level of public scrutiny and conspiracy theories after his ex-wife's murder trial ended in a mistrial.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/1491529/patrick-clancy-describes-holding-his-dying-son-and-being-the-focus-of-conspiracy-theories-during-the-lindsay-clancy-trial