Shortly after the news broke this afternoon, conspiracy theories about the Trump rally shooting began to surface on X, with the platform promoting topics to users including “#falseflag” and “staged.” X owner Elon Musk is a strong advocate of “free speech” on social media platforms, which may include the misinformation mentioned above.
Other major platforms appear to have largely avoided spreading misinformation
On X, none of the trending topics about the shootings go hand-in-hand with a particularly strong or coherent conspiracy. Click through and you’ll find mostly brief posts from X users saying the shooting looked fake or a stunt. (There is no evidence for either.) But by putting the topic into X’s trending topic area, the conspiracy is elevated to more people.
Other major social media platforms appeared to handle the situation better in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. YouTube displays news clips and directs search results primarily to news stories and verified creators. Facebook’s search results mostly point to news outlets; the platform removed its Trending Topics section in 2018 amid ongoing complaints about its management. Posts occasionally show conspiracy-related posts on trending topics for the event, but they don’t appear to appear consistently.
X did not respond to a request for comment. An email sent to its news team received an automated reply that read: “Very busy right now, please check back later.”
Still, the company appears to be embracing its role as the center of discussion—accurately or not. Although conspiracy themes continue to trend, X’s official account posted a brief note tonight that simply said: “Global Town Square.”
