Disinformation Spreads on Social Media Amid Protests in Los Angeles

Strategic Insights -

Protests against immigrant raids in Los Angeles turned into a battleground for disinformation on social media, where misleading photographs, videos, and text spread rapidly. The online flood of falsehoods aimed to stoke outrage against immigrants and Democrats, adding to the confusion over the actual events unfolding on the streets. Misleading images and videos revived old conspiracy theories, including claims that the protests were a planned provocation rather than a spontaneous response to the immigration raids. As the situation escalated, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the deployment of 700 Marines to guard federal buildings, prompting a new wave of misleading images to spread online.

Key Takeaways:

  • Misleading photographs, videos, and text spread widely on social media during protests against immigrant raids in Los Angeles, rehashing old conspiracy theories and expressing support for President Trump's actions.
  • The disinformation campaign aimed to stoke outrage against immigrants and Democrats, adding to the confusion over the actual events unfolding on the streets.
  • Social media platforms were used to revive old conspiracy theories, including claims that the protests were a planned provocation rather than a spontaneous response to the immigration raids.
  • Darren L. Linvill, a researcher at Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub, stated that conservatives online were "building up the riots in a performative way" to help bolster Mr. Trump's claims that Los Angeles had been taken over by "violent, insurrectionist mobs."
  • James Woods, the actor, used his account on X to rail against the state's elected officials, especially Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, and reposted a fabricated quote attributed to former President Barack Obama.
  • An innocuous photograph of a pallet of bricks was cited as proof that the protests were organized by nonprofit organizations supported by George Soros, and was seen more than 800,000 times on X.

Statistics:

  • During the protests, 800,000 people saw the photograph of the bricks on X, despite it having no connection to the actual events.
  • The online trope of the "pallets of bricks" hoax reappeared in 2022 after a conspiratorial post by Representative Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican.
  • The Social Media Lab, a research center at the Toronto Metropolitan University, noted that the trope is often used to discredit peaceful resistance movements.

Sources:

  • Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub
  • Social Media Lab, a research center at the Toronto Metropolitan University
  • The New York Times (no specific date mentioned in the original text)
  • Los Angeles Times (no specific date mentioned in the original text)