Gareth Arnold

Gareth Arnold
Arnold, photographed 2018.
Born 1992
Nationality British
Other names Gareth Arnoult, Geoff Stevens
Years active 2013 - Present
Known for Britain Furst and BFNN
Home town Sheffield, UK

Gareth Arnold (Born 1992), known by his pseudonyms Gareth Arnoult and Geoff Stevens,[1][2] is a blogger and business person from Sheffield, South Yorkshire.[3]

Arnold rose to prominence in 2014 for his online trolling of the far-right political party Britain First[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] founded by Jim Dowson.[11] In 2015, he warned about the dangers of fake news before the 2016 United State Elections.[8][2] During the campaign he created and monetised prank campaign websites to prove this.[12][13][14]

In October 2015, Arnold was also involved in legal dispute with Manchester-based entertainment brand LAD Bible on grounds of trademark, copyright infringement and defamation.[15][16][17].Arnold was vindicated when LAD Bible publicly apologised,[16] ultimately prompting the entertainment brand to review their business practices and public image.[17][18][19]

Arnold has spoken about his online activities on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Sheffield, and appeared in 2016 BBC Three documentary "Troll Hunters", investigating motivations behind trolling and looking at the extent of the online disinhibition.[4][20][21]

Britain Furst

The Britain First (left) and parody Britain Furst logo (right).

In 2014 Arnold started anti-Britain First movement, Britain Furst, a parody and meme social media account responsible for mass trolling covered by worldwide news media. The Guardian reported that Arnold created the parody account when he realised Britain First were real, having originally mistook their exaggerated posts as satire.[1]

The rise of Britain Furst gave way to a new wave of parody of the right-wing within the UK,[8] using memes as a tool for countersignalling to tackle the jihad movement[13] and helping to magnify failed media stunts of Britain First.[5] Britain Furst is also responsible for inspiring numerous parody accounts including "British First", a prolific trolling account that created the online satire publication NewsThump.[22][23]

Arnold was interviewed and filmed as part of a BBC Three investigative documentary into online trolling presented by YouTube beauty vlogger Em Ford and technology journalist David McClelland. Arnold spoke how trolling can be a force for positive social change, despite being considered a pejorative term with strong negative connotations in news media.[24][20]

In December 2015, major media outlets including the i newspaper, reported on a post by Britain Furst saying that former British Prime Minister David Cameron was considering banning Christmas in the UK, to appease minority groups who supposedly hated Christmas. This prompted outrage in Britain First supporters.[25] Days later, Arnold recorded and produced a parody cover of Coldplay's "Fix You" called "Fix UK", mocking the anti-immigrant mentality of the far-right group.[26]

Britain Furst has also been responsible for claims that "Channel 5 would stop airing Peppa Pig in Muslim majority areas" and that the NHS was "withholding donated organs from non-immigrants".[2]These posts caught the attention of political groups such as UKIP and Cllr Muhammed Butt, Labour Leader of Brent London Borough Council.[3]

Dr. Sarah Maitland, a Senior Lecturer of Translation Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London defined Britain Furst as an example of "cultural translation in action", in her 2017 book "What is Cultural Transformation?". Maitland decries the impact of "Facebooktavism", a portmanteau of Facebook and slacktivism, and chronicles the works of Britain Furst to explain how it became a "cultural phenomenon" in its mission to disrupt the right-wing.[8]

Fake News

In a 2015 interview with VICE Media, Arnold warned that the line between journalism and manufactured news was "beginning to blur". He argued that people no longer care to believe what they read but simply share articles across social media if they "agree with the headline".[2][27]

Red square with the letters "bfnn" written across it in white.
bfnn: "British Fake News Network" logo, 2016,

To demonstrate this, Arnold started satirical news website "bfnn (sometimes stylised as "BFNN")[28] as a proof of concept, manufacturing news stories which mimicked red-top tabloids covering themes of immigration, hyperbolic political correctness and the islamification of the United Kingdom.[29] The articles created by Arnold cited unreliable and often irrelevant sources, but rather a similar thing or topic to give it added authority.[2]

The response to the fake news articles received mixed praise and criticism. Arnold was subject to cease and desist requests from British supermarket chain ASDA and pub-chain J D Wetherspoon PLC respectively, for implying that the supermarket chain was to "ban pork and alcohol sales in Muslim majority areas" and the trial of a "Muslim-friendly" day in the pub-chain which would see them not serving alcohol but serving curry.[29] Both ASDA and J D Wetherspoon issued press releases to address this.[2] Former Leader of the English Defence League Tommy Robinson took to social media to condemn these articles, not realising they were in fact fake.[30][2]

He used viral marketing tactics during the 2016 United States General Election and fake news and generated £15,000 in online advertising revenue with Google Adsense to highlight how easy it had become.[12] Arnold created prank campaign websites "Reasons to Vote Trump", "Reasons to Vote Hillary", "Reasons to Vote Bush" and "Reasons to Vote Bernie" from a hotel room.[31] The websites, in their reasons to vote for the named candidate, simply stated "There aren't any", with Facebook and Twitter share buttons and online adverts from Google. This encourages supporters of opposing candidates to propagate them across social media.[14]

Media company Buzzfeed analyzed the top 20 fake news stories about the election and compared them to the top 20 election news stories from 19 major media outlets, they found that the fake news articles got more engagement on Facebook.[32] According to Buzzfeed, this proves that, during the election, fake news outperformed genuine news coverage on Facebook in terms of website clicks, likes, comments and shares.[33]

LAD Bible trademark dispute

In October 2015, the Daily Telegraph reported that LAD Bible forged a legal challenge against Arnold threatening to sue for defamation claiming that “to allow such malicious activity to remain unchallenged fundamentally undermines its business”,[16] following an attack on the company by Arnold accusing them of bootstrapping and monetizing content they do not have ownership rights to exploit for commercial gain.[15][34]

Around the same time, LAD Bible and rival brand UNILAD were facing similar accusations from content creators who alleged their work was being used without proper attribution or credit.[35] Due to the revelation that the LAD Bible had used Arnold's copyrighted works in the past without attribution, credit or permission this led to public outcry.[34] Arnold posted a video to YouTube that has since been deleted, drunkenly calling the law firm who sent the legal letter on behalf of the entertainment brand, talking incoherently and laughing.[36]

Though attempting to silence Arnold through the use of litigation, the opposite happened. The Streisand effect phenomenon caused Arnold's original polemic, "The LAD bible are monumental w**kers, and not for the reason you think"[34] to go viral, soon reaching #1 position on American social news aggregator Reddit[37], one of the internet's most popular websites.[38]

Following the incident, Mimi Turner, former Marketing Director[39] for LAD Bible, told International Business Times:[40]

We’re certainly not going to take action against these guys, who are clearly very funny and whose work we admire. I need to find out exactly what happened within our company and how it got this far. In the meantime I want to personally apologise as we were clearly in the wrong.

Earlier that year in 2015, Financial Times profiled the entertainment provider highlighting the impact of crowdsourced content as a catalyst for commercial success. Owner Alexander Solomou defended the practice comparing their business model to that of popular TV Show You've Been Framed!,[41] pioneers of crowdsourced content, who in 1990 encouraged the public to send in video clips.[42]

As a result of the public pressure against LAD Bible following the dispute,[43] the entertainment provider committed to investing in original content,[17] introduced monetary rewards for crowdsourced content submissions and regularly encourages social responsibility campaigns.[44][19][45]

Criticism

The tactics and trolling of Arnold online has garnered criticism for multiple journalists and news organisations, openly questioning whether he is prejudice towards the working classes and whether he his actions inadvertently helped to promote right-wing agenda.[29][46]

Arnold has been accused of demonising working class culture by The Quietus's Jessie Thompson, using it as a lens to mock far-right extremism:[46]

Britain Furst’s popular Facebook page makes apparent, people don’t seem to check their responses to the working class in the same way that they do towards race and religion. I admitted that there were moments when people laughed that shocked me, seeming to show that class prejudice is still often unconsciously displayed.

It has been suggested by Artefact Magazine's Deek Hussain Jama that Arnold's inflammatory fake news stories taken out of context, could be considered "ammunition for the far right", an unintended consequence of Poe's Law:[29]

[Britain Furst was] so good at parodying xenophobic views, and essentially producing ammunition for the right-wing side of the political spectrum, that it could be considered as dangerous as genuine propaganda.

Personal Life

Arnold has been listed by Business Insider in their annual 42 under 42 awards in 2017 for Yorkshire, a profile of young entrepreneurs. [47] Coincidentally, previous recipients of this award in 2016 include LAD Bible founders Solly Solomou and Arian Kalantari.[48]

Currently, Arnold lives and works in his hometown of Sheffield managing marketing and visual communications projects.[12]

Further reading

  • Maitland, Sarah, Goldsmiths, University of London. (2 February 2017). "What is Cultural Translation?" ISBN 9781472530455.[49] Bloomsbury Academic[8]
  • Arnold, Gareth (8 October 2015). "The LAD bible are monumental w**kers, and not for the reason you think" via DSSK[34].
  • Allcot, Hunt. Gentzkow, Matthew (2017). "Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election". Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol 31, No 2. Pgs 211–236 [13]
  • Lee, B.J., Campbell (July 2016). "Looking out or turning in?: organisational ramifications of online political posters on Facebook". International Journal of Press/Politics. Vol 07/2016, 21, 3, p. 313-337.[50]
  • Sparkes-Vian, C. University of the West of England. (2018). "Digital Propaganda: The tyranny of ignorance." Critical Sociology. ISSN 0896-9205.[51]

References

  1. 1 2 Walsh, James (2014-06-20). "Britain Furst: the halal Ray-ban-wearing far right Facebook mockers". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "This British Satirical News Network Is at War with the Far-Right and Far-Left". Vice. 2015-03-25. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  3. 1 2 "The man trolling Britain First, one ridiculous meme at a time". indy100. 2015-11-12. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  4. 1 2 "Troll Hunters - BBC Three". BBC. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  5. 1 2 "5 times Britain First got what they deserved". The Independent. 2015-11-03. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  6. ↑ "A Lesson In How To Troll Far-Right Extremists". 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  7. ↑ "This Amazing Twitter Account Is Ridiculing Britain First In The Best Way". HuffPost UK. 2015-11-26. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 (Translator),, Maitland, Sarah (2017-02-09). What is cultural translation?. London. ISBN 9781472530455. OCLC 963230691.
  9. ↑ "Britain First just got put in their place by the soldiers they were idolising". The Independent. 2015-11-03. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  10. ↑ CULBERTSON, ALIX (2015-11-04). "Army regiment asks Britain First to REMOVE Facebook post praising soldiers". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  11. ↑ McDonald, Henry (2017-03-20). "Far-right millionaire: I'll use social media network to back Scottish independence". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  12. 1 2 3 "25 ways to make money from home from filling in online surveys, getting paid to watch TV and even selling your hair". The Sun. 2017-01-05. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  13. 1 2 3 "Social Media and Fake News in 2016 Election" (PDF). Journal of Economic Perspectives. 31: 211, 236 – via Stanford University.
  14. 1 2 "How I made £7.5k in 48 hours with Google Adsense (and Donald Trump) | Rackley Arnold". Rackley Arnold. 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  15. 1 2 Media, Newton. "The Lad Bible accuses Lid Bible creator of defamation". www.trademarksandbrandsonline.com. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  16. 1 2 3 Williams, Christopher (2015-10-15). "The Lad Bible apologises after threatening to sue blogger". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  17. 1 2 3 Cumming, Ed (2015-12-12). "'A lad is someone who has manners, who can be a hero': meet the man behind the Lad Bible". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  18. ↑ Cumming, Ed (2015-12-12). "'A lad is someone who has manners, who can be a hero': meet the man behind the Lad Bible". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  19. 1 2 "The Lad Bible is attempting to match its social media power with social responsibility". The Drum. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  20. 1 2 "Troll Hunters - David McClelland". www.davidmcclelland.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  21. ↑ Stein, Joel. "How Trolls Are Ruining the Internet". Time. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  22. ↑ "'British First' Parody Account Gains More Traction Than Britain First". HuffPost UK. 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  23. ↑ "This 'British First' parody account is trolling Trump on Twitter, and it's perfect". ShortList. 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  24. ↑ "Troll Hunters, BBC3: Blogger Em Ford tracks down online abusers". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  25. ↑ "What happens when you tell right-wingers David Cameron wants to". indy100. 2015-11-11. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  26. ↑ Furst, Britain (2015-12-25). "Britain Furst - Fix UK". Soundcloud.
  27. ↑ "Eight out of ten people only read the headline". Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  28. ↑ "Satire, parody and spoof news | bfnn". www.bfnn.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  29. 1 2 3 4 "Artefact – Britain Furst: a political parody of the UK". Artefact. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  30. ↑ Robinson, Tommy (2 March 2015). "J D Wetherspoon's to trial 'Muslim friendly' day". @trobinsonnewera. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  31. ↑ "Reasons to vote Trump". Reasons to vote Trump!. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  32. ↑ "This Analysis Shows How Viral Fake Election News Stories Outperformed Real News On Facebook". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  33. ↑ News, A. B. C. (2017-02-15). "When Fake News Stories Make Real News Headlines". ABC News. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  34. 1 2 3 4 "The LAD Bible are monumental wankers, and not for the reason you thin…". archive.is. 2017-02-26. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  35. ↑ "Fuck UniLad". Foul ENT. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  36. ↑ "Watch: Lad Bible try to sue people taking the piss out of them, cue Twitter storm". Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  37. ↑ "The wankers at LadBible are suing some other wankers for calling them wankers. • r/britishproblems". reddit. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  38. ↑ "Top Sites: The 500 Most Important Websites on the Internet - Moz". moz.com. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  39. ↑ "Mimi Turner departs as Lad Bible marketing director". Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  40. ↑ Palmer, Ewan (2015-10-16). "The LAD Bible withdraws legal action against blogger who accused them of stealing content". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  41. ↑ "ITV Media | You've Been Framed". www.itvmedia.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  42. ↑ Mance, Henry (2015). "Blokeish crowdsourcing fuels the Lad Bible's unholy success". Financial Times.
  43. ↑ "Wentworth Miller had a powerful response to a body-shaming meme". The Independent. 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  44. ↑ "How the Lad Bible has filled the void left by lads' mags". The Independent. 2015-11-20. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  45. ↑ "Social Media Power x Social Responsibility - LADbible Group". LADbible Group. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  46. 1 2 "The Quietus | Features | Tome On The Range | Britain First? Albion Playwright Chris Thompson Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  47. ↑ Ltd, Insider Media. "Yorkshire 2017 42 under 42 Members | Insider Media Ltd". www.insidermedia.com. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  48. ↑ Ltd, Insider Media. "Insider reveals 42 Under 42 stars for 2016". Insider Media Ltd. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  49. ↑ Bloomsbury.com. "What Is Cultural Translation?". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  50. ↑ "Looking out or turning in?: organisational ramifications of online political posters on Facebook". International Journal of Press/Politics. 21: 313–337. July 2017 – via Lancaster University.
  51. ↑ Sparkes-Vian, C (2018). "Digital propaganda: The tyranny of ignorance" (PDF). Critical Sociology. ISSN 0896-9205.
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