Social media deluged by unsupported claims about Trump rally shooting
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Supporters of former US President Donald Trump react as he is escorted off the stage at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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Unsubstantiated claims about what took place at the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, immediately flooded social media after former US president Donald Trump was carried off the stage where shots had been fired.
Without providing proof, the social media posts blamed shadowy figures on the left for targeting Trump and built on ideas circulated by Trump that the “deep state”, or a cabal within the government, was seeking to stop him from returning to office. The unverified claims surfaced on platforms including Gab, Truth Social and Parler, which are favoured by the far right, as well as on X, Telegram, Facebook and Instagram.
Disinformation experts immediately urged caution, warning people not to jump to conclusions.
“We are about to see a lot of disinformation spreading about who is behind the shooting, who executed it, and the events that led up to this moment,” Ms Roberta Braga, the founder of think-tank Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas, wrote on X. “Watch for emotional language.”
Law enforcement officials will require time to investigate what happened at the rally. Video footage from the event appears to show Trump falling to the stage and bleeding from his ear before being escorted away by Secret Service agents.
Some social media accounts said a gunman with ties to the deep state had opened fire and shot Trump. Without citing evidence, the accounts also blamed government agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention for targeting Trump.
Georgia’s 10th Congressional District Representative Mike Collins, a Republican, quickly accused President Joe Biden of ordering an apparent shooting at Trump’s rally, but provided no proof. “Joe Biden sent the orders,” he wrote on X. Mr Collins did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Others claimed on social media that any shooter was a member of the far-left antifa group, or was acting on behalf of transgender individuals. None of the posts provided evidence for their theories. NYTIMES
