For 15 years, Brent Lee spent hours each day consuming 'truther' content online, believing that a cabal of evil satanic paedophiles was working to establish a new world order. He convinced himself that secret societies were running politics, banks, religious institutions and the entertainment industry, and that most terrorist attacks were government-organised ritual sacrifices.
In 2018, something shifted. 'I was sick of it. I felt, I can't deal with hearing this any more because it's no longer what I believe, so I just logged off the internet,' he says. Now Lee is trying to help other conspiracy theorists question their worldview. He will address a conference on disinformation in Poland in October and has launched a podcast unpicking why he held these beliefs so fervently.
Lee, a musician from Peterborough, began his journey in 2003 after downloading videos offering alternative perspectives on 9/11. His anti-war stance led him to believe the US government had orchestrated the attacks. From there, he fell into a network of theories about secret societies and cults.
He warns that these ideas are dangerous and have gained greater currency, citing the influence of QAnon in the US and a 2020 Ipsos poll showing 17% of Americans believed a satanic paedophile ring was trying to control politics. 'Once you have such a skewed view of the world, you can be convinced of other stuff,' he says.
