Social Media Spreads Harmful Untruths About Texas Shooting
2022-05-27
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1Experts are warning of conspiracy theories and misinformation on social media after the recent deadly shootings in the American state of Texas.
2On Tuesday, an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in the town of Uvalde.
3Within hours of Tuesday's school shootings, internet users spread false claims.
4The claims were about the teenager named as the gunman and his possible reasons for carrying out the attack.
5The Associated Press noted that misinformation also appeared on social media after the shootings at Sandy Hook, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida and after the Orlando, Florida nightclub shooting.
6It also happened after the mass shooting earlier this month at a Buffalo grocery store.
7One of the untrue claims about the gunman was that he was an immigrant living in the U.S. illegally, Another was that he was transgender, the AP reported.
8These quickly appeared on social media services Twitter, Reddit and others.
9Another claim was that the shooting was somehow false or carried out to gain public attention.
10The claims show the problems of racism and intolerance toward transgender people.
11Jaime Longoria is a disinformation expert and leads research at the Disinfo Defense League.
12He said the conspiracy theories represent an effort to blame the shooting on minority groups.
13He said these groups already experience higher rates of online mistreatment and hate crimes.
14"It's a tactic that serves two purposes: It avoids real conversations about the issue (of gun violence), and it gives people...someone to blame," said Longoria.
15One popular conspiracy theory was that the gunman was not in the country legally.
16The man who officials said carried out the shooting, Salvador Ramos, was a U.S. citizen, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a news conference on Tuesday.
17Other social media users used photos of innocent internet users to falsely identify them as the gunman and claim he was transgender.
18On the online message service 4Chan, users shared the photos and talked about a plan to say the gunman was transgender, without any evidence to prove it.
19One message on Twitter showed an image of a transgender person, saying the shooter had a channel on YouTube.
20The message has been removed since then.
21The photo actually showed a 22-year-old transgender person named Sabrina who lives in New York City.
22Sabrina told the AP that the photo was hers and said she had no links with the YouTube channel.
23Sabrina said she had gotten unkind messages on social media claiming that she was the shooter.
24She answered some of the messages, asking that they be removed.
25Sabrina told the AP the experience was "just horrifying."
26Officials have released no information on the gunman's sexuality or gender identification.
27In some cases, social media users spread misinformation about mass shootings without fully understanding the facts.
28In other cases, it can be the work of criminals looking to raise money for their own use or bring attention to their website or organization.
29Then there are the trolls - people who send offensive messages for fun.
30Ben Decker is founder and chief of the investigation company Memetica.
31He said that extreme online communities often use mass shootings and other tragedies to create disorder and misunderstanding.
32They want to upset the public and push harmful untruths.
33Decker said people in such communities want to show how powerful they can be by "successfully trolling the public."
34By pushing their story on the general public, they raise their own position in their online community, he said.
35For the communities harmed by online attacks, the false blame creates fear of discrimination and violence.
36Jaden Janak is a graduate student at the University of Texas and also with the Center for Applied Transgender Studies.
37Janak said that a transphobic comment on social media can bring about an act of violence against a transgender person.
38"These children and adults who were murdered yesterday were just living their lives," Janak said.
39"They didn't know that yesterday was going to be their last day. And similarly, as trans people, that's a fear that we have all the time," Janak added.
40I'm Jill Robbins.
1Experts are warning of conspiracy theories and misinformation on social media after the recent deadly shootings in the American state of Texas. 2On Tuesday, an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in the town of Uvalde. 3Within hours of Tuesday's school shootings, internet users spread false claims. The claims were about the teenager named as the gunman and his possible reasons for carrying out the attack. 4The Associated Press noted that misinformation also appeared on social media after the shootings at Sandy Hook, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida and after the Orlando, Florida nightclub shooting. It also happened after the mass shooting earlier this month at a Buffalo grocery store. 5One of the untrue claims about the gunman was that he was an immigrant living in the U.S. illegally, Another was that he was transgender, the AP reported. These quickly appeared on social media services Twitter, Reddit and others. Another claim was that the shooting was somehow false or carried out to gain public attention. 6The claims show the problems of racism and intolerance toward transgender people. 7Jaime Longoria is a disinformation expert and leads research at the Disinfo Defense League. He said the conspiracy theories represent an effort to blame the shooting on minority groups. He said these groups already experience higher rates of online mistreatment and hate crimes. 8"It's a tactic that serves two purposes: It avoids real conversations about the issue (of gun violence), and it gives people...someone to blame," said Longoria. 9One popular conspiracy theory was that the gunman was not in the country legally. The man who officials said carried out the shooting, Salvador Ramos, was a U.S. citizen, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a news conference on Tuesday. 10Other social media users used photos of innocent internet users to falsely identify them as the gunman and claim he was transgender. On the online message service 4Chan, users shared the photos and talked about a plan to say the gunman was transgender, without any evidence to prove it. 11Horrifying experience 12One message on Twitter showed an image of a transgender person, saying the shooter had a channel on YouTube. The message has been removed since then. 13The photo actually showed a 22-year-old transgender person named Sabrina who lives in New York City. Sabrina told the AP that the photo was hers and said she had no links with the YouTube channel. 14Sabrina said she had gotten unkind messages on social media claiming that she was the shooter. She answered some of the messages, asking that they be removed. 15Sabrina told the AP the experience was "just horrifying." 16Officials have released no information on the gunman's sexuality or gender identification. 17In some cases, social media users spread misinformation about mass shootings without fully understanding the facts. In other cases, it can be the work of criminals looking to raise money for their own use or bring attention to their website or organization. 18Then there are the trolls - people who send offensive messages for fun. 19Ben Decker is founder and chief of the investigation company Memetica. He said that extreme online communities often use mass shootings and other tragedies to create disorder and misunderstanding. They want to upset the public and push harmful untruths. 20Decker said people in such communities want to show how powerful they can be by "successfully trolling the public." By pushing their story on the general public, they raise their own position in their online community, he said. 21Fear of more violence 22For the communities harmed by online attacks, the false blame creates fear of discrimination and violence. 23Jaden Janak is a graduate student at the University of Texas and also with the Center for Applied Transgender Studies. Janak said that a transphobic comment on social media can bring about an act of violence against a transgender person. 24"These children and adults who were murdered yesterday were just living their lives," Janak said. "They didn't know that yesterday was going to be their last day. And similarly, as trans people, that's a fear that we have all the time," Janak added. 25I'm Jill Robbins. 26Rodrigo Gutierrez reported on this story for Reuters. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. 27_____________________________________________________________________ 28Words in This Story 29conspiracy - n. secret planning by a group of people to do something illegal 30transgender - adj. a person who has a gender identity which is different from the sex assigned to them at birth 31intolerance -n. being not willing to accept or permit something 32tactic - n. a method that you choose to use in order to achieve what you want in a particular situation 33citizen -n. a person who legally belongs to a country and bears the rights, protections and responsibilities of that country 34gender -n. the state of being male or female 35transphobic - adj. showing a fear or hatred of transgender people 36What do you think of those spreading false information about the school shooting? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.