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Even before police secured YouTube's headquarters after a shooting there Tuesday, social media was flooded with a familiar scourge: fake news.
Every major social network has its own challenges with disinformation. They've enacted series of algorithmic and structural changes in order to combat its spread. Just as Tuesday's shooting raged, Facebook said it was scrubbing more than 270 pages linked to a Russian troll farm.
Police say three victims in the shooting in San Bruno, California, have been transported for emergency treatment and the suspected female shooter was found dead from what they believe to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The headquarters has been evacuated and law enforcement officers are continuing to investigate.
You'd never know that on Twitter, where various accounts claimed to know much more about the incident and its perpetrator than law enforcement. Many were passed over, but some still managed to attract dozens of interactions.
Someone rebooted a common hoax that actor Sam Hyde was the shooter, a frequent accusation following shootings. The post included a photo of Hyde carrying an assault weapon.
This tweet has since been removed.
Another bogus claim was that YouTuber Matt Jarbo is behind the shooting,
I'm not worried about stopping the trolls from posting. They're gonna do it regardless. HOWEVER, if a news outlet doesn't catch it, I'd rather there be some kind of indicator that I'm not the culprit. Because obviously this will keep happening with every shooting/tragedy. https://t.co/E7N12LLhlj
— Matt Jarbo (@mundanematt) April 3, 2018
False flag conspirators reemerged in their corner of Twitter to make their familiar claims about crisis actors participating in the shooting.
Getting conflicting reports here I read in one place that a woman killed only herself there and then in another place -that they were crisis actors, I mean people, showing up at the hospital -so is this not yet another false flag? I mean obviously it is, too obvious.