School wars, Dubai's crisis PR, and is Fabrizio cancelled?

About this episode

The episode discusses the moral panic surrounding school violence in the UK, the implications of social media on youth, and the challenges faced by influencers in Dubai amidst geopolitical tensions.

A series of posts appearing to encourage violence between neighbouring UK schools has caused widespread moral panic, and prompted police forces to issue dispersal orders. But, with zero incidents reported, could the 'red vs blue' phenomenon be a phantom trend? Matt and Marianna discuss the knowledge gap between parents and younger people on social media, and how online frenzies can have dangerous real-world consequences. Also, has Iran's retaliation to days of US-Israeli strikes exposed the reality of Dubai's flourishing influencer economy? As people in the UAE shelter from the threat of drones, content creators have been warned by the Emirati government about what they choose to share. And, one of the world's biggest football journalists, Fabrizio Romano, is attracting criticism for a paid advert endorsing Saudi Arabia's humanitarian aid agency. Top Comment is hosted by Marianna Spring and Matt Shea. The series producer is Laurie Kalus. The social producer is Sophie Millward. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The editor is Justine Lang. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. If you want to get in touch about something that's popped up on your feed, our email address is…

People in this episode

Hosts: Marianna Spring, Matt Shea

Topics covered

• school violence
• social media
• influencer economy
• Dubai
• moral panic
• online frenzies

Keywords

• school wars
• Dubai crisis
• Fabrizio Romano
• social media
• influencer economy
• moral panic
• US-Israeli strikes

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Emirati government, BBC

Places: Dubai, UK, Iran, UAE

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