In the wake of mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo, right-wing conspiracy theories moved faster than ever from fringe to the mainstream, thanks to a misinformation infrastructure that's grown stronger over time.
"Shootings are particularly rife for misinformation," said Holt. Bad actors will capitalize on situations where "there's a big window of gaps and unknowns" to promote their own political ideology.
"Often, it strikes me that these kinds of communities or figures ... want to believe a certain thing, and someone on the internet finds something to provide source material," Holt said. "They come up with the concept first and then scour the internet to patch details in there so that it can live on."
Knowing which types of narratives are likely to stick gives conservative lawmakers more cover to promote such falsehoods. Certain narratives, like the claim that an event is a false flag operation, repeatedly appear in the aftermath of breaking news, including the January 6th Capitol siege.As the same narratives become more pervasive with each new shooting massacre, it's becoming easier for tech platforms and the media to identify and debunk them.
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