News Hoax: Questions Over Expert Who May Not Exist

Over recent years, the Oxford-educated psychologist Barbara Santini has become a widely quoted expert.

- Michael Savage

She has offered her thoughts on everything from the impact of the Covid pandemic, the importance of vitamin D, and how playing darts can improve your health.

However, her pronouncements have begun to disappear from articles after concerns that Santini may not be all she appears. Major news outlets have removed entire articles featuring Santini, or comments made by her, after a series of questions were raised over her qualifications—and even whether her entire identity could be an elaborate hoax.

The case has been described as a "wake-up call" for newsrooms, as artificial intelligence (AI) tools make it easier for bad actors to invent supposed experts. Santini's output has been prolific, with comments in Vogue, Metro, Cosmopolitan, the i newspaper, the Express, Hello, the Telegraph, the Daily Star, the Daily Mail, and the Sun in recent years. She was also quoted in an article for the BBC's international site, BBC.com.