The most terrifying aspect of this story is that the perp clearly doesn’t have a clue. No shadowy cabal, no far-right mastermind or Bannonite figure. Just a bloke who wanted clicks with absolutely no sense of the consequences. Miserable stuff.
Before London Centric I spent 2013-2024 reporting to various degrees on the emergence/growth/horrors of online political news and campaigns.
People were always desperate for there to be a 'Russian bot farm' or shadowy cabal behind an online disinformation campaign.
And yes, sometimes that's the case.
But never dismiss what a load of bored men spending too much time on their phones are willing to do for free if you give them anonymity or the incentive of a few quid in ad revenue share.
As a former London HT how often have I heard bullying boys excuse themselves by asserting that ‘It was just a joke Miss’ or ‘I never meant it Miss’. Thoughtless and mindlessly cruel these lads did it for a laugh or because it gave them a thrill to see their victims upset. This man is a grown up version of this and with far less excuse. Well done for investigating and I hope the Police take action.
As suspected it’s all about money - the power of incentives. I’d love an article that looked at the wider social media industrial complex impact on doing down London. How many hate spreaders are there and how much are they making from all this? What are the real world impacts in communities but also say foreign investment. Always amazed when I meet US colleagues that these videos inform much of their view of our city.
He's basically admitting he's just a parasite. Good to see a professional newspaper exposing this. This is the best way to neuter these creepy crawlies: shine a light on them.
Citizen Journalism is the monster spawned by a decaying mainstream media. This would never have happened if professional journalists had been given free rein to follow-up leads and choose the stories worth covering. Every journalist starts off with a sense of justice and unlimited enthusiasm for finding the truth about important matters. Anyone who has worked in newspapers will confirm this.
Great work covering this important topic, though I must admit I’m still a little suspicious of the contractor story. How do we know Wasserstrum is not lying again to protect himself? How did he find this person so fast? Of course the tape is very compelling but is there anything that can be independently verified?
Fascinating stuff although the seemingly interchangeable use of contractor and employee is a little confusing. Is the implication that Centric believes the individual concerned was an employee rather than a contractor as claimed?
Is it more depressing/terrifying that this idiot did all this for money, without any concept of consequences, or whether it was right or wrong, AND it was so easy to do!
All of which makes it even more important to shine a light on this kind of activity. Less frightening than real haters in a way but the reach it got and the damage done was dreadful.
The most terrifying aspect of this story is that the perp clearly doesn’t have a clue. No shadowy cabal, no far-right mastermind or Bannonite figure. Just a bloke who wanted clicks with absolutely no sense of the consequences. Miserable stuff.
Before London Centric I spent 2013-2024 reporting to various degrees on the emergence/growth/horrors of online political news and campaigns.
People were always desperate for there to be a 'Russian bot farm' or shadowy cabal behind an online disinformation campaign.
And yes, sometimes that's the case.
But never dismiss what a load of bored men spending too much time on their phones are willing to do for free if you give them anonymity or the incentive of a few quid in ad revenue share.
That is the most depressing thing I've read all year - and this is 2026.
As a former London HT how often have I heard bullying boys excuse themselves by asserting that ‘It was just a joke Miss’ or ‘I never meant it Miss’. Thoughtless and mindlessly cruel these lads did it for a laugh or because it gave them a thrill to see their victims upset. This man is a grown up version of this and with far less excuse. Well done for investigating and I hope the Police take action.
As suspected it’s all about money - the power of incentives. I’d love an article that looked at the wider social media industrial complex impact on doing down London. How many hate spreaders are there and how much are they making from all this? What are the real world impacts in communities but also say foreign investment. Always amazed when I meet US colleagues that these videos inform much of their view of our city.
Great journalism, thank you for this insightful report. Hatred must not be allowed to win.
This is really terrifying. And goes nearly with the economist last week, which debunked a lot of the online hate about London. Great reporting.
He's basically admitting he's just a parasite. Good to see a professional newspaper exposing this. This is the best way to neuter these creepy crawlies: shine a light on them.
Citizen Journalism is the monster spawned by a decaying mainstream media. This would never have happened if professional journalists had been given free rein to follow-up leads and choose the stories worth covering. Every journalist starts off with a sense of justice and unlimited enthusiasm for finding the truth about important matters. Anyone who has worked in newspapers will confirm this.
Great work covering this important topic, though I must admit I’m still a little suspicious of the contractor story. How do we know Wasserstrum is not lying again to protect himself? How did he find this person so fast? Of course the tape is very compelling but is there anything that can be independently verified?
Great reporting, Jim, especially when added to the Epstein/London stuff. London is a bad place - just not in the way the TikTok man portrays.
" Good is not simply the absence of evil"..Aristotle said it all :)
Fascinating
Thank you for exposing this disgraceful account
Fake news is a hit just like artificial intelligence. Huge data centers built in it's honor.
Excellent investigation. Extremely depressing. Basing one’s morals on platform algorithms and ad payouts is something else…
… and people just lap it up.
The thing is soon this kind of rage content won’t even require much human effort, if any.
Fascinating stuff although the seemingly interchangeable use of contractor and employee is a little confusing. Is the implication that Centric believes the individual concerned was an employee rather than a contractor as claimed?
Is it more depressing/terrifying that this idiot did all this for money, without any concept of consequences, or whether it was right or wrong, AND it was so easy to do!
All of which makes it even more important to shine a light on this kind of activity. Less frightening than real haters in a way but the reach it got and the damage done was dreadful.
Well done again for amazing reporting.