Why are people in Stroud handing out a paper that defends Holocaust denial and antisemitism?". Community Solidarity Stroud District. 17 May 2022. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022 . Retrieved 7 November 2022. Taylor, Dan. " 'Obvious hoax' - Newspaper posted to Barrow homes branded 'nonsense' ". The Mail. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023 . Retrieved 4 March 2023. a b Dacombe, Rod; Souter, Nicole & Westerlund, Lumi (2021). "Research note: Understanding offline Covid-19 conspiracy theories: A content analysis of The Light "truthpaper" ". Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review. doi: 10.37016/mr-2020-80. ISSN 2766-1652. S2CID 237613394. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022 . Retrieved 3 October 2022. Mills, Kelly-Ann & Tobin, Olivia (6 May 2021). "Covid 'rag' being posted through doors sparks fury with fake news about vaccines". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022 . Retrieved 18 March 2023.

Schraer, Rachel & Wendling, Mike (3 May 2023). "Is this anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist the next Alex Jones?". BBC News . Retrieved 4 May 2023. In September 2022, The Light shared an article written by far-right conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson claiming that Lyudmyla Denisova, the former Ombudsman for Human Rights in Ukraine, had admitted to lying about the Russian military committing rape crimes in Ukraine. The disinformation analysis group Logically found that Denisova had only accepted her use of inappropriate language in describing the rape crimes, but had not admitted to lying about said crimes. [26] Fury as anti-vax conspiracy newspaper delivered to Norwich homes". Norwich Evening News. 11 January 2023 . Retrieved 5 August 2023.The newspaper is distributed independently to remain fiercely free from the establishment we seek to hold to account. The paper has printed articles by Holocaust denier John Hamer and recommended books by white supremacist Eustace Mullins, [11] and has featured an article by pseudonymous blogger Lasha Darkmoon which said that people should be able to question the Holocaust. [11] [18] It also defended radio host Graham Hart, who was sentenced to 32 months imprisonment after making anti-semitic remarks on his radio show in which he characterized Jewish people as "filth" and "rats" who "deserve to be wiped out". [18] [31] [32] The paper also regularly references the far-right Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory, which has similar roots in antisemitism, and has promoted the neo-Nazi propaganda film Europa: The Last Battle on its Telegram channel. [11]

The print publication regularly makes conspiratorial claims surrounding Bill Gates and world leaders, promotes climate change denial and claims vaccines are weaponized mind control devices. [1] [20] The Light is a self-published, monthly British far-right and conspiracy theory newspaper founded by Darren Nesbitt (frequently under the pseudonym Darren Smith) on 27 September 2020, [1] which claims the COVID-19 pandemic was a hoax. The paper has a sister publication, named The Irish Light, which was launched in Ireland by Gemma O'Doherty and John Waters. [2] Burke, Darren (29 September 2021). "Anti-vaccine 'truthpaper' which says Covid is hoax given out on streets of Doncaster". Doncaster Free Press. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023 . Retrieved 18 March 2023. a b c d e f Lawrence, David (30 June 2022). "Turning Off "The Light": the conspiracist newspaper promoting the far right". Hope Not Hate. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023 . Retrieved 4 March 2023. Young, Bradley (11 January 2021). "Anti-vaxxer defends Stroud stall after MP slams claims as 'utter rubbish' ". Stroud News and Journal. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022 . Retrieved 9 November 2022.In November 2022, The Irish Light ran a headline with the phrase 'Died Suddenly' connected to marketing efforts around the release of an independent anti-vaccine film of the same name. In this issue, the paper used the images of 42 deceased individuals, claiming they had died due to being vaccinated. Upon investigation, none of the deaths were found to be due to vaccines but were caused by drowning, long-term illness, car accidents, meningitis and other events. The misuse of the names and images of the deceased individuals being used to promote anti-vaccine conspiracy theories caused severe distress among family members of the bereaved and an increase in online abuse. [27] [28] [29] [30] Far-right links After copies of the paper were distributed in Stroud, residents protested against the paper, stating: "...we are alarmed by The Light's use of the pandemic to push support for antisemitism, Holocaust denial and racist hate speech - as well as for denial of climate change, NHS-bashing, and other reactionary views." [4] [7] Kulkarni, Ankita (26 September 2022). "False: Former Ukrainian Human Rights Chief Lyudmila Denisova admitted to lying about the Russian military committing rape crimes in Ukraine". Logically. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023 . Retrieved 1 January 2023.

Davies, Philippa (24 January 2023). "Conspiracy 'newspaper' being distributed around Sidmouth". Sidmouth Herald. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023 . Retrieved 8 February 2023. Wilson, Kate (30 December 2020). "Stoud MP hits out at anti-vaxxers as county moves into Tier 4". GloucestershireLive. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022 . Retrieved 9 November 2022.While we do our best to get copies to those who request them, please understand that we are trying to target primarily the uninitiated rather than those already awake. a b Felton, James (30 September 2022). "Protest against controversial newspaper in Stroud". Stroud News & Journal. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022 . Retrieved 7 November 2022. a b Felton, James (29 January 2022). "Stroud residents challenge The Light's 'support for Holocaust Denial' ". Stroud News & Journal. Archived from the original on 3 May 2022 . Retrieved 17 April 2022.