Willie O’Reilly: In revealing America’s toxic underbelly, Louis Theroux has a dilemma

Forbidden America, the BBC’s new documentary on digital media-savvy white supremacists, comes dangerously close to promoting the nest of vipers it seeks to expose

Forbidden America, Louis Theroux’s new series on the BBC Two: exposing the depraved underbelly of American society. Picture Mindhouse Productions/Dan Dewsbury

I’ve been watching Forbidden America, Louis Theroux’s new series on the BBC, and it’s not easy going.

Theroux himself wondered if, in documenting something so rank, he wasn’t ultimately promoting it. More harm than good? It’s a close call.

The series examines the rise of America’s far right and its use of the internet to promote its beliefs and win over followers. As always in Theroux’s TV documentaries, he leans in, meeting the footsoldiers and ...