Twitter’s fake news problem is getting worse
Earlier this week, we endured another school shooting. This time, in Parkland, Florida, where at least 17 students were killed. During the shooting's aftermath, hoaxes and disinformation spread on Twitter. It's a phenomenon that happens after every tragedy, and it doesn't seem to be going away. As is common in these cases, many of the initial fake tweets misidentified the gunman. A few tweets from a fake Bill O'Reilly account, for example, claimed that there were two shooters (one of whom was the actual gunman, Nikolas Cruz) and the other was Sam Hyde. Hyde is a comedian whose photo was also circulated as the alleged shooter in previous tragedies like the ones in San Bernardino and Las Vegas. At this point it's a well-known internet trope. Others were also falsely accused of being the attacker, including German YouTuber DrachenLord and 24-year-old Marcel Fontaine (who was misidentified as being part of the "Antifa" movement). Some tweets combined fal...