Researchers have found that conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination attempt on Donald Trump garnered millions of views on X (formerly Twitter). These unsubstantiated claims, including allegations of a staged event and blaming imaginary culprits, spread rapidly after the shooting.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) analyzed a sample of popular posts and found that over 215 million views were generated by these conspiracy theories. Notably, many of these posts lacked “Community Notes,” a moderation tool intended to provide context.
The Institute for Strategic Dialogue reported that within the first 24 hours, misleading narratives accumulated over 100 million views. Additionally, numerous individuals were wrongly identified as the shooter.
The incident highlights the ease with which falsehoods can spread on social media platforms, especially those with reduced content moderation. Researchers believe that some accounts on X, motivated by financial gain from ad revenue sharing, intentionally spread extreme content to maximize engagement.
Experts warn that the rampant spread of disinformation on platforms like X could create a volatile environment leading up to the upcoming November election.
