The Light is a monthly conspiracy theory magazine that denies the existence of COVID-19 and climate change, and has promoted antisemitism and far- right politics. 

The Light emerged in September 2020 in tandem with the UK’s burgeoning anti-vaccine protest movement. Edited by the “flat earther” Darren Nesbitt, it is designed to mimic a traditional newspaper and has grown into a significant voice in the conspiracy theorist alternative media. Every month, thousands of copies are handed out on street stalls or left alongside mainstream publications in newsagents to be taken free of charge. 

In January 2022, Nesbitt claimed the magazine had a huge 250,000 print run – bigger than some national newspapers – distributed by volunteers organised on Facebook and Telegram. The fortunes of the outlet have dipped since, with Nesbitt blaming the loss of “hundreds of subscribers” on the cost-of-living crisis. Interest in The Light has also likely waned as public anxiety about the pandemic has lessened. 

Nonetheless, The Light continues to find a wide reach across the UK and has broadened its focus from pandemic theories to a wider “culture war” outlook, taking aim at an “insane woke collectivist ideology” and incorporating strong anti-trans prejudice into its output. It also increasingly includes content denying the existence of climate change. 

Notably, the outlet has also platformed and promoted some of the UK’s best-known far-right figures and antisemites, introducing them to new audiences. This includes the Holocaust denier John Hamer, the antisemite David Icke, and various white supremacists. It also includes anti-Muslim figures such as Anne Marie Waters and Katie Hopkins, and longstanding far-right activist Robin Tilbrook. 

The tone of The Light is highly alarmist and occasionally violent. For example, an article in the June 2022 issue stated that “under the 1947 Nuremberg Code, MPs, doctors and nurses can be hanged if found guilty of medical experimentation”. Elsewhere, the magazine has called for a “Second Nuremberg Trials”, referring to the execution of leading Nazis in November 1945. 

The Light remains a significant producer and promoter of conspiratorial content online, and has repeatedly promoted content from the Holocaust denier Mark Collett, leader of the fascist group Patriotic Alternative, including a post railing against “replacement migration”. 

October 2022 saw the launch of a sister paper The Light Australia, which uses the same format and has published nine issues at time of writing.