John,
Last week, a container ship hit Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key bridge, causing a deadly collapse. The collapse was a horrific tragedy caused by a large cargo ship losing power and running into the support structure with massive force.
As we’ve seen in the aftermath of many recent tragedies, right-wingers immediately started throwing out politicized conspiracy theories about the collapse.
Perhaps the most ridiculous of these theories came from MAGA politicians from Utah and Florida who blamed the bridge collapse on DEI or “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs, a blatantly racist shot at Baltimore’s Black Mayor Brandon Scott.
So, John, how did Twitter/ “X” help fuel the Key Bridge conspiracies and what does it say about the state of online misinformation going into the 2024 election?
While news organizations gathered the facts, right-wing influencers, personalities and politicians took to “X” to throw out baseless conspiracy theories about the bridge collapse because they knew they would get engagement from their audience of far-right followers.
This content spread like wildfire because, under Elon Musk, Twitter/ “X” has become a breeding ground for right-wing misinformation and conspiracies.
In fact, earlier this year, Elon Musk shared anti-DEI posts on his platform blaming “wokeness” for the recent Boeing incidents.
Remember when Twitter was the place to get news, John? Now, it’s just another tool in the far-right misinformation machine’s toolbox. And as we get closer to November’s election, we know Trump will do anything and everything to win, including manipulating the American people through social networks like Twitter.
COURIER is essential in times like this. We fight misinformation at the source – in email inboxes and social media news feeds – with reliable, factual reporting on the issues that matter most.
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Thanks,
The COURIER Team