Misinformation Spreads Rapidly Following Trump Shooting Incident

Within minutes after Trump shooting, misinformation started flying. 'Everyone is just speculating'

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Within minutes of the gunfire, the apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump spawned a vast sea of claims -- some outlandish, others contradictory -- reflecting the frightening uncertainties of the moment as well as America's fevered, polarized political climate. The cloudburst of speculation and conjecture as Americans turned to the internet for news about the shooting is the latest sign of how social media has emerged as a dominant source of information -- and misinformation -- for many, and a contributor to the distrust and turbulence now driving American politics. Mentions of Trump on social media soared up to 17 times the average daily amount in the hours after the shooting, according to PeakMetrics, a cyber firm that tracks online narratives. Many of those mentions were expressions of sympathy for Trump or calls for unity. But many others made unfounded, fantastical claims. "We saw things like 'The Chinese were behind it,' or 'Antifa was behind it,' or 'the Biden administration did it.' We also saw a claim that the RNC was behind it,'" said Paul Bartel, senior intelligence analyst at PeakMetrics. "Everyone is just speculating. No one really knows what's going on. They go online to try to figure it out." Here's a look at the claims that surfaced online following the shooting: Many of the more specious claims that surfaced immediately after the shooting sought to blame Trump or his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden, for the attack. Some voices on the left quickly proclaimed the shooting to be a false flag concocted by Trump, while some Trump supporters suggested the Secret Service intentionally failed to protect Trump on the White House's orders. The Secret Service on Sunday pushed back on claims circulating on social media that Trump's campaign had asked for greater security before Saturday's rally and was told no. "This is absolutely false," agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote Sunday on X. "In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo." Videos of the shooting were quickly dissected in partisan echo chambers and Trump supporters and detractors looked for evidence to support their beliefs. Videos showing Secret Service agents moving audience members away from Trump before the shooting were offered as evidence that it was an inside job. Images of Trump's defiantly raised fist were used to make the opposite claim -- that the whole event was staged by Trump. "How did the USSS allow him to stop and pose for a photo opp if there was real danger??" wrote one user, using the abbreviation for the U.S. Secret Service. Social media bots helped amplify the false claims on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, according to an analysis by the Israeli tech firm Cyabra, which found that a full 45% of the accounts using hashtags like #fakeassassination and #stagedshooting were inauthentic. An image created using artificial intelligence -- depicting a smiling Trump moments after the shooting -- was also making the rounds, Cyabra found. Conspiracy theories quickly emerged online that misidentified the suspected shooter, blamed other people without evidence and espoused hate speech, including virulent antisemitism. "Moments like this are cannon fodder for extremists online, because typically they will react with great confidence to whatever has happened without any real evidence" said Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "People will fall into spirals and will advance their own ideologies and their own conclusions." Before authorities identified the suspect, photos of two different people circulated widely online falsely identifying them as the shooter. In all the speculation and conjecture, others were trying to exploit the event financially. On X on Sunday morning, an account named Proud Patriots urged Trump supporters to purchase their assassination-attempt themed merchandise. "First they jail him, now they try to end him," reads the ad for the commemorative Trump Assassination Attempt Trading Card. "Stand Strong & Show Your Support!" After the shooting, some Republicans blamed Biden for the shooting, arguing sustained criticisms of Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying "it's time to put Trump in the bullseye." Ware said that comment from Biden was "violent rhetoric" that is "raising the stakes," especially when combined with Biden's existential words about the election. But he said it was important not to make conclusions about the shooter's motive until we know more information. Biden's remarks were part of a broader approach to turn scrutiny on Trump, with no explicit call to violence. Trump's own incendiary words have been criticized in the past for encouraging violence. His lies about the 2020 election and his call for supporters to "fight like hell" preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which led to his second impeachment on charges of incitement of insurrection. Trump also mocked the hammer attack that left 80-year-old Paul Pelosi, the husband of the former House speaker, with a fractured skull. Surveys find that Americans overwhelmingly reject violence as a way to settle political differences, but overheated rhetoric from candidates and social media can motivate a small minority of people to act, said Sean Westwood, a political scientist who directs the Polarization Research Lab at Dartmouth College. Westwood said he worries that Saturday's shooting could spur others to consider violence as a tactic. "There is a real risk that this spirals," he said. "Even if someone doesn't personally support violence, if they think the other side does, and they witness an attempted political assassination, there is a real risk that this could lead to escalation." ___ The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP's democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Within minutes after Trump shooting, misinformation started flying. 'Everyone is just speculating'

WASHINGTON -- Within minutes of the gunfire, the apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump spawned a vast sea of claims -- some outlandish, others contradictory -- reflecting the frightening uncertainties of the moment as well as America's fevered, polarized political climate. The cloudburst of speculation and conjecture as Americans turned to the internet for news about the shooting is the latest sign of how social media has emerged as a dominant source of information -- and misinformation -- for many, and a contributor to the distrust and turbulence now driving American politics. Mentions of Trump on social media soared up to 17 times the average daily amount in the hours after the shooting, according to PeakMetrics, a cyber firm that tracks online narratives. Many of those mentions were expressions of sympathy for Trump or calls for unity. But many others made unfounded, fantastical claims. "We saw things like 'The Chinese were behind it,' or 'Antifa was behind it,' or 'the Biden administration did it.' We also saw a claim that the RNC was behind it,'" said Paul Bartel, senior intelligence analyst at PeakMetrics. "Everyone is just speculating. No one really knows what's going on. They go online to try to figure it out." Here's a look at the claims that surfaced online following the shooting: Many of the more specious claims that surfaced immediately after the shooting sought to blame Trump or his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden, for the attack. Some voices on the left quickly proclaimed the shooting to be a false flag concocted by Trump, while some Trump supporters suggested the Secret Service intentionally failed to protect Trump on the White House's orders. The Secret Service on Sunday pushed back on claims circulating on social media that Trump's campaign had asked for greater security before Saturday's rally and was told no. "This is absolutely false," agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote Sunday on X. "In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo." Videos of the shooting were quickly dissected in partisan echo chambers and Trump supporters and detractors looked for evidence to support their beliefs. Videos showing Secret Service agents moving audience members away from Trump before the shooting were offered as evidence that it was an inside job. Images of Trump's defiantly raised fist were used to make the opposite claim -- that the whole event was staged by Trump. "How did the USSS allow him to stop and pose for a photo opp if there was real danger??" wrote one user, using the abbreviation for the U.S. Secret Service. Social media bots helped amplify the false claims on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, according to an analysis by the Israeli tech firm Cyabra, which found that a full 45% of the accounts using hashtags like #fakeassassination and #stagedshooting were inauthentic. An image created using artificial intelligence -- depicting a smiling Trump moments after the shooting -- was also making the rounds, Cyabra found. Conspiracy theories quickly emerged online that misidentified the suspected shooter, blamed other people without evidence and espoused hate speech, including virulent antisemitism. "Moments like this are cannon fodder for extremists online, because typically they will react with great confidence to whatever has happened without any real evidence" said Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "People will fall into spirals and will advance their own ideologies and their own conclusions." Before authorities identified the suspect, photos of two different people circulated widely online falsely identifying them as the shooter. In all the speculation and conjecture, others were trying to exploit the event financially. On X on Sunday morning, an account named Proud Patriots urged Trump supporters to purchase their assassination-attempt themed merchandise. "First they jail him, now they try to end him," reads the ad for the commemorative Trump Assassination Attempt Trading Card. "Stand Strong & Show Your Support!" After the shooting, some Republicans blamed Biden for the shooting, arguing sustained criticisms of Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying "it's time to put Trump in the bullseye." Ware said that comment from Biden was "violent rhetoric" that is "raising the stakes," especially when combined with Biden's existential words about the election. But he said it was important not to make conclusions about the shooter's motive until we know more information. Biden's remarks were part of a broader approach to turn scrutiny on Trump, with no explicit call to violence. Trump's own incendiary words have been criticized in the past for encouraging violence. His lies about the 2020 election and his call for supporters to "fight like hell" preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which led to his second impeachment on charges of incitement of insurrection. Trump also mocked the hammer attack that left 80-year-old Paul Pelosi, the husband of the former House speaker, with a fractured skull. Surveys find that Americans overwhelmingly reject violence as a way to settle political differences, but overheated rhetoric from candidates and social media can motivate a small minority of people to act, said Sean Westwood, a political scientist who directs the Polarization Research Lab at Dartmouth College. Westwood said he worries that Saturday's shooting could spur others to consider violence as a tactic. "There is a real risk that this spirals," he said. "Even if someone doesn't personally support violence, if they think the other side does, and they witness an attempted political assassination, there is a real risk that this could lead to escalation." ___ The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP's democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Within minutes after Trump shooting, misinformation started flying. 'Everyone is just speculating'

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Within minutes of the gunfire, the apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump spawned a vast sea of claims -- some outlandish, others contradictory -- reflecting the frightening uncertainties of the moment as well as America's fevered, polarized political climate. The cloudburst of speculation and conjecture as Americans turned to the internet for news about the shooting is the latest sign of how social media has emerged as a dominant source of information -- and misinformation -- for many, and a contributor to the distrust and turbulence now driving American politics. Mentions of Trump on social media soared up to 17 times the average daily amount in the hours after the shooting, according to PeakMetrics, a cyber firm that tracks online narratives. Many of those mentions were expressions of sympathy for Trump or calls for unity. But many others made unfounded, fantastical claims. "We saw things like 'The Chinese were behind it,' or 'Antifa was behind it,' or 'the Biden administration did it.' We also saw a claim that the RNC was behind it,'" said Paul Bartel, senior intelligence analyst at PeakMetrics. "Everyone is just speculating. No one really knows what's going on. They go online to try to figure it out." Here's a look at the claims that surfaced online following the shooting: Claims of an inside job or false flag are unsubstantiated Many of the more specious claims that surfaced immediately after the shooting sought to blame Trump or his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden, for the attack. Some voices on the left quickly proclaimed the shooting to be a false flag concocted by Trump, while some Trump supporters suggested the Secret Service intentionally failed to protect Trump on the White House's orders. The Secret Service on Sunday pushed back on claims circulating on social media that Trump's campaign had asked for greater security before Saturday's rally and was told no. "This is absolutely false," agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote Sunday on X. "In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo." Videos of the shooting were quickly dissected in partisan echo chambers and Trump supporters and detractors looked for evidence to support their beliefs. Videos showing Secret Service agents moving audience members away from Trump before the shooting were offered as evidence that it was an inside job. Images of Trump's defiantly raised fist were used to make the opposite claim -- that the whole event was staged by Trump. "How did the USSS allow him to stop and pose for a photo opp if there was real danger??" wrote one user, using the abbreviation for the U.S. Secret Service. Social media bots helped amplify the false claims on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, according to an analysis by the Israeli tech firm Cyabra, which found that a full 45% of the accounts using hashtags like #fakeassassination and #stagedshooting were inauthentic. An image created using artificial intelligence -- depicting a smiling Trump moments after the shooting -- was also making the rounds, Cyabra found. Moments like this are 'cannon fodder' for extremists Conspiracy theories quickly emerged online that misidentified the suspected shooter, blamed other people without evidence and espoused hate speech, including virulent antisemitism. "Moments like this are cannon fodder for extremists online, because typically they will react with great confidence to whatever has happened without any real evidence" said Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "People will fall into spirals and will advance their own ideologies and their own conclusions." Before authorities identified the suspect, photos of two different people circulated widely online falsely identifying them as the shooter. In all the speculation and conjecture, others were trying to exploit the event financially. On X on Sunday morning, an account named Proud Patriots urged Trump supporters to purchase their assassination-attempt themed merchandise. "First they jail him, now they try to end him," reads the ad for the commemorative Trump Assassination Attempt Trading Card. "Stand Strong & Show Your Support!" Republicans cast blame on Biden After the shooting, some Republicans blamed Biden for the shooting, arguing sustained criticisms of Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying "it's time to put Trump in the bullseye." Ware said that comment from Biden was "violent rhetoric" that is "raising the stakes," especially when combined with Biden's existential words about the election. But he said it was important not to make conclusions about the shooter's motive until we know more information. Biden's remarks were part of a broader approach to turn scrutiny on Trump, with no explicit call to violence. Trump's own incendiary words have been criticized in the past for encouraging violence. His lies about the 2020 election and his call for supporters to "fight like hell" preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which led to his second impeachment on charges of incitement of insurrection. Trump also mocked the hammer attack that left 80-year-old Paul Pelosi, the husband of the former House speaker, with a fractured skull. Surveys find that Americans overwhelmingly reject violence as a way to settle political differences, but overheated rhetoric from candidates and social media can motivate a small minority of people to act, said Sean Westwood, a political scientist who directs the Polarization Research Lab at Dartmouth College. Westwood said he worries that Saturday's shooting could spur others to consider violence as a tactic. "There is a real risk that this spirals," he said. "Even if someone doesn't personally support violence, if they think the other side does, and they witness an attempted political assassination, there is a real risk that this could lead to escalation." ___ The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP's democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Minutes after Trump shooting, misinformation started flying. Here are the facts

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Within minutes of the gunfire, the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump spawned a vast sea of claims -- some outlandish, others contradictory -- reflecting the frightening uncertainties of the moment as well as America's fevered, polarized political climate. The cloudburst of speculation and conjecture as Americans turned to the internet for news about the shooting is the latest sign of how social media has emerged as a dominant source of information -- and misinformation -- for many, and a contributor to the distrust and turbulence now driving American politics. Mentions of Trump on social media soared up to 17 times the average daily amount in the hours after the shooting, according to PeakMetrics, a cyber firm that tracks online narratives. Many of those mentions were expressions of sympathy for Trump or calls for unity. But many others made unfounded, fantastical claims. "We saw things like 'The Chinese were behind it,' or ' Antifa was behind it,' or 'the Biden administration did it.' We also saw a claim that the RNC was behind it,'" said Paul Bartel, senior intelligence analyst at PeakMetrics. "Everyone is just speculating. No one really knows what's going on. They go online to try to figure it out." Here's a look at the claims that surfaced online following the shooting: Many of the more specious claims that surfaced immediately after the shooting sought to blame Trump or his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden, for the attack. Some voices on the left quickly proclaimed the shooting to be a false flag concocted by Trump, while some Trump supporters suggested the Secret Service intentionally failed to protect Trump on the White House's orders. The Secret Service on Sunday pushed back on claims circulating on social media that Trump's campaign had asked for greater security before Saturday's rally and was told no. "This is absolutely false," agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote Sunday on X. "In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo." Videos of the shooting were quickly dissected in partisan echo chambers and Trump supporters and detractors looked for evidence to support their beliefs. Videos showing Secret Service agents moving audience members away from Trump before the shooting were offered as evidence that it was an inside job. Images of Trump's defiantly raised fist were used to make the opposite claim -- that the whole event was staged by Trump. "How did the USSS allow him to stop and pose for a photo opp if there was real danger??" wrote one user, using the abbreviation for the U.S. Secret Service. Social media bots helped amplify the false claims on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, according to an analysis by the Israeli tech firm Cyabra, which found that a full 45% of the accounts using hashtags like #fakeassassination and #stagedshooting were inauthentic. An image created using artificial intelligence -- depicting a smiling Trump moments after the shooting -- was also making the rounds, Cyabra found. Conspiracy theories quickly emerged online that misidentified the suspected shooter, blamed other people without evidence and espoused hate speech, including virulent antisemitism. "Moments like this are cannon fodder for extremists online, because typically they will react with great confidence to whatever has happened without any real evidence" said Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "People will fall into spirals and will advance their own ideologies and their own conclusions." Before authorities identified the suspect, photos of two different people circulated widely online falsely identifying them as the shooter. In all the speculation and conjecture, others were trying to exploit the event financially. On X on Sunday morning, an account named Proud Patriots urged Trump supporters to purchase their assassination-attempt themed merchandise. "First they jail him, now they try to end him," reads the ad for the commemorative Trump Assassination Attempt Trading Card. "Stand Strong & Show Your Support!" After the shooting, some Republicans blamed Biden for the shooting, arguing sustained criticisms of Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying "it's time to put Trump in the bullseye." Ware said that comment from Biden was "violent rhetoric" that is "raising the stakes," especially when combined with Biden's existential words about the election. But he said it was important not to make conclusions about the shooter's motive until we know more information. Biden's remarks were part of a broader approach to turn scrutiny on Trump, with no explicit call to violence. Trump's own incendiary words have been criticized in the past for encouraging violence. His lies about the 2020 election and his call for supporters to "fight like hell" preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which led to his second impeachment on charges of incitement of insurrection. Trump also mocked the hammer attack that left 80-year-old Paul Pelosi, the husband of the former House speaker, with a fractured skull. Surveys find that Americans overwhelmingly reject violence as a way to settle political differences, but overheated rhetoric from candidates and social media can motivate a small minority of people to act, said Sean Westwood, a political scientist who directs the Polarization Research Lab at Dartmouth College. Westwood said he worries that Saturday's shooting could spur others to consider violence as a tactic. "There is a real risk that this spirals," he said. "Even if someone doesn't personally support violence, if they think the other side does, and they witness an attempted political assassination, there is a real risk that this could lead to escalation." ___ The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP's democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Within Minutes After Trump Shooting, Misinformation Started Flying. 'Everyone Is Just Speculating'

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Within minutes of the gunfire, the apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump spawned a vast sea of claims -- some outlandish, others contradictory -- reflecting the frightening uncertainties of the moment as well as America's fevered, polarized political climate. The cloudburst of speculation and conjecture as Americans turned to the internet for news about the shooting is the latest sign of how social media has emerged as a dominant source of information -- and misinformation -- for many, and a contributor to the distrust and turbulence now driving American politics. Mentions of Trump on social media soared up to 17 times the average daily amount in the hours after the shooting, according to PeakMetrics, a cyber firm that tracks online narratives. Many of those mentions were expressions of sympathy for Trump or calls for unity. But many others made unfounded, fantastical claims. "We saw things like 'The Chinese were behind it,' or 'Antifa was behind it,' or 'the Biden administration did it.' We also saw a claim that the RNC was behind it,'" said Paul Bartel, senior intelligence analyst at PeakMetrics. "Everyone is just speculating. No one really knows what's going on. They go online to try to figure it out." Here's a look at the claims that surfaced online following the shooting: Claims of an inside job or false flag are unsubstantiated Many of the more specious claims that surfaced immediately after the shooting sought to blame Trump or his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden, for the attack. Some voices on the left quickly proclaimed the shooting to be a false flag concocted by Trump, while some Trump supporters suggested the Secret Service intentionally failed to protect Trump on the White House's orders. The Secret Service on Sunday pushed back on claims circulating on social media that Trump's campaign had asked for greater security before Saturday's rally and was told no. "This is absolutely false," agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote Sunday on X. "In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo." Videos of the shooting were quickly dissected in partisan echo chambers and Trump supporters and detractors looked for evidence to support their beliefs. Videos showing Secret Service agents moving audience members away from Trump before the shooting were offered as evidence that it was an inside job. Images of Trump's defiantly raised fist were used to make the opposite claim -- that the whole event was staged by Trump. "How did the USSS allow him to stop and pose for a photo opp if there was real danger??" wrote one user, using the abbreviation for the U.S. Secret Service. Social media bots helped amplify the false claims on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, according to an analysis by the Israeli tech firm Cyabra, which found that a full 45% of the accounts using hashtags like #fakeassassination and #stagedshooting were inauthentic. An image created using artificial intelligence -- depicting a smiling Trump moments after the shooting -- was also making the rounds, Cyabra found. Moments like this are 'cannon fodder' for extremists Conspiracy theories quickly emerged online that misidentified the suspected shooter, blamed other people without evidence and espoused hate speech, including virulent antisemitism. "Moments like this are cannon fodder for extremists online, because typically they will react with great confidence to whatever has happened without any real evidence" said Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "People will fall into spirals and will advance their own ideologies and their own conclusions." Before authorities identified the suspect, photos of two different people circulated widely online falsely identifying them as the shooter. In all the speculation and conjecture, others were trying to exploit the event financially. On X on Sunday morning, an account named Proud Patriots urged Trump supporters to purchase their assassination-attempt themed merchandise. "First they jail him, now they try to end him," reads the ad for the commemorative Trump Assassination Attempt Trading Card. "Stand Strong & Show Your Support!" Republicans cast blame on Biden After the shooting, some Republicans blamed Biden for the shooting, arguing sustained criticisms of Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying "it's time to put Trump in the bullseye." Ware said that comment from Biden was "violent rhetoric" that is "raising the stakes," especially when combined with Biden's existential words about the election. But he said it was important not to make conclusions about the shooter's motive until we know more information. Biden's remarks were part of a broader approach to turn scrutiny on Trump, with no explicit call to violence. Trump's own incendiary words have been criticized in the past for encouraging violence. His lies about the 2020 election and his call for supporters to "fight like hell" preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which led to his second impeachment on charges of incitement of insurrection. Trump also mocked the hammer attack that left 80-year-old Paul Pelosi, the husband of the former House speaker, with a fractured skull. Surveys find that Americans overwhelmingly reject violence as a way to settle political differences, but overheated rhetoric from candidates and social media can motivate a small minority of people to act, said Sean Westwood, a political scientist who directs the Polarization Research Lab at Dartmouth College. Westwood said he worries that Saturday's shooting could spur others to consider violence as a tactic. "There is a real risk that this spirals," he said. "Even if someone doesn't personally support violence, if they think the other side does, and they witness an attempted political assassination, there is a real risk that this could lead to escalation." ___ The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP's democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Within minutes after Trump shooting, misinformation started flying. 'Everyone is just speculating'

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Within minutes of the gunfire, the apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump spawned a vast sea of claims -- some outlandish, others contradictory -- reflecting the frightening uncertainties of the moment as well as America's fevered, polarized political climate. The cloudburst of speculation and conjecture as Americans turned to the internet for news about the shooting is the latest sign of how social media has emerged as a dominant source of information -- and misinformation -- for many, and a contributor to the distrust and turbulence now driving American politics. Mentions of Trump on social media soared up to 17 times the average daily amount in the hours after the shooting, according to PeakMetrics, a cyber firm that tracks online narratives. Many of those mentions were expressions of sympathy for Trump or calls for unity. But many others made unfounded, fantastical claims. "We saw things like 'The Chinese were behind it,' or 'Antifa was behind it,' or 'the Biden administration did it.' We also saw a claim that the RNC was behind it,'" said Paul Bartel, senior intelligence analyst at PeakMetrics. "Everyone is just speculating. No one really knows what's going on. They go online to try to figure it out." Here's a look at the claims that surfaced online following the shooting: Claims of an inside job or false flag are unsubstantiated Many of the more specious claims that surfaced immediately after the shooting sought to blame Trump or his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden, for the attack. Some voices on the left quickly proclaimed the shooting to be a false flag concocted by Trump, while some Trump supporters suggested the Secret Service intentionally failed to protect Trump on the White House's orders. The Secret Service on Sunday pushed back on claims circulating on social media that Trump's campaign had asked for greater security before Saturday's rally and was told no. "This is absolutely false," agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote Sunday on X. "In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo." Videos of the shooting were quickly dissected in partisan echo chambers and Trump supporters and detractors looked for evidence to support their beliefs. Videos showing Secret Service agents moving audience members away from Trump before the shooting were offered as evidence that it was an inside job. Images of Trump's defiantly raised fist were used to make the opposite claim -- that the whole event was staged by Trump. "How did the USSS allow him to stop and pose for a photo opp if there was real danger??" wrote one user, using the abbreviation for the U.S. Secret Service. Social media bots helped amplify the false claims on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, according to an analysis by the Israeli tech firm Cyabra, which found that a full 45% of the accounts using hashtags like #fakeassassination and #stagedshooting were inauthentic. An image created using artificial intelligence -- depicting a smiling Trump moments after the shooting -- was also making the rounds, Cyabra found. Moments like this are 'cannon fodder' for extremists Conspiracy theories quickly emerged online that misidentified the suspected shooter, blamed other people without evidence and espoused hate speech, including virulent antisemitism. "Moments like this are cannon fodder for extremists online, because typically they will react with great confidence to whatever has happened without any real evidence" said Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "People will fall into spirals and will advance their own ideologies and their own conclusions." Before authorities identified the suspect, photos of two different people circulated widely online falsely identifying them as the shooter. In all the speculation and conjecture, others were trying to exploit the event financially. On X on Sunday morning, an account named Proud Patriots urged Trump supporters to purchase their assassination-attempt themed merchandise. "First they jail him, now they try to end him," reads the ad for the commemorative Trump Assassination Attempt Trading Card. "Stand Strong & Show Your Support!" Republicans cast blame on Biden After the shooting, some Republicans blamed Biden for the shooting, arguing sustained criticisms of Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying "it's time to put Trump in the bullseye." Ware said that comment from Biden was "violent rhetoric" that is "raising the stakes," especially when combined with Biden's existential words about the election. But he said it was important not to make conclusions about the shooter's motive until we know more information. Biden's remarks were part of a broader approach to turn scrutiny on Trump, with no explicit call to violence. Trump's own incendiary words have been criticized in the past for encouraging violence. His lies about the 2020 election and his call for supporters to "fight like hell" preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which led to his second impeachment on charges of incitement of insurrection. Trump also mocked the hammer attack that left 80-year-old Paul Pelosi, the husband of the former House speaker, with a fractured skull. Surveys find that Americans overwhelmingly reject violence as a way to settle political differences, but overheated rhetoric from candidates and social media can motivate a small minority of people to act, said Sean Westwood, a political scientist who directs the Polarization Research Lab at Dartmouth College. Westwood said he worries that Saturday's shooting could spur others to consider violence as a tactic. "There is a real risk that this spirals," he said. "Even if someone doesn't personally support violence, if they think the other side does, and they witness an attempted political assassination, there is a real risk that this could lead to escalation." ___ The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP's democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Trump assassination attempt: Disinformation fuels social media fire

Claims such as the shooting being "staged" or "ordered" by US president Joe Biden have run rife on social media. "Staged to get sympathy" and an "order" likely from the CIA with involvement of Barack Obama and the Clintons: just some of the conspiracy theories that swirled on social media just moments after former US president Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a rally on Saturday. The claims, posted on X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, were not backed up by any evidence and came from both Republicans and Democrats. Some of the posts even came from US politicians. "Joe Biden sent the orders," Republican congressman Mike Collins from Georgia posted on X, referring to a comment about the election the incumbent president made earlier about putting "Trump in a bullseye". "The most alarming thing is that the misinformation coming out from the rally is so neatly polarised across political lines," Yotam Ophir, Assistant Professor of Communication at the University at Buffalo in New York, told Euronews Next. "It shows us how malleable conspiracy theories are - how they can be moulded to fit any ideology. And how they could be used to divide us further," he added. Law enforcement and the US Justice Department said they are continuing to investigate the shooting. President Joe Biden, who is running against Trump in the 2024 presidential election, has ordered an independent review of how the attack happened. But on social media, we are already "witnessing a surge in discussions questioning why the attacker was not detected earlier, leading to widespread speculation about potential failures in preventative measures," said Sarah Morris, a professor of digital forensics at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. "This growing discussion is now leading to theories that the incident was planned and that authorities allowed it to happen," she told Euronews Next. Many videos have circulated on social media platforms, such as one on X which shows a woman behind Trump looking around. The post states, without offering evidence, that her behaviour was "highly suspicious" and her body language and behaviour "seem to indicate she knew that something was coming". Another worrying trend on social media was the rush to identify the shooter without verification. Before the FBI named the gunman, an Italian football commentator was wrongly identified as being behind the attack and a member of far-left group Antifa. Millions of people online had already seen and shared the false allegations before he could set the record straight. Content moderation is getting more difficult for social media companies as they struggle to keep up with the speed of advancements in deep fakes and AI-generated disinformation around the US election, said Morris. Israeli tech company Cyabra found an image depicting Trump smiling was created with artificial intelligence (AI) moments after the shooting and circulated on social media. The firm also found that social media bots helped boost the false claims on platforms including X, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, and said 45 per cent of the accounts using hashtags like #fakeassassination and #stagedshooting were inauthentic. "Companies need to continually enhance and adapt their detection algorithms and increase collaboration with independent fact-checkers to effectively combat these evolving threats," Morris said. But at the moment, social media companies can do whatever they like, said Ophir. "In the absence of systematic solutions and regulations, we won't be able to slow down the spread of misinformation," he said, adding that it is not immediately clear what solutions we should adopt. He said censorship does not seem to work and could be used to silence voters. "We need more creative ideas, perhaps initiatives to restore trust in journalism and trustworthy sources of information or demanding changes to social media algorithms so they will promote accurate - rather than sensationalist and engaging - content," he said. On the other hand, Elon Musk's platform X has turned away from censorship to become a space for free speech by removing some of the limits on misinformation that the company's former owners put in place. "It was already considered an unsafe space for many," said Ophir, adding that many users had already left X before he endorsed Trump on Sunday. The assassination attempt was a test for Musk's platform, which experts agree it did not pass. The site's algorithm pushed posts from both the Democratic and Republican sides to create a deep pit of conspiracies. Meanwhile, Meta reinstated Trump on Facebook and Instagram on Friday after having banned his social media accounts in 2021 following the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, deeming that Trump praising the rioters, calling on them to "fight like hell," was a potential risk for inciting more violence. Meta reinstating Trump could lead to a surge in followers, regardless of whether they agree with his views, argues Morris. "This increase in followers is likely to amplify content related to Trump, potentially boosting the spread of disinformation and creating challenges for content moderation," she said. One of the most poignant images to come from Sunday's rally captured Trump standing up after the assassination attempt with his fist in the air and blood smeared down his face, shouting "fight, fight, fight". This call is likely to be taken out of context on social media and spread rapidly, potentially inciting more violence as seen in the past, Morris said. "It's hard to establish causal relationships between a politician's statement and real-world events," said Ophir. But he welcomed most Democrats, including President Biden, immediately condemning the shooting. "We could only hope that the Republican party will follow them in trying to reduce, and not fan, the flames in these tensed times," he said. "So far, unfortunately, that is not what we're seeing on the right".

Election Disinformation Will Lead to Chaos

The assassination attempt that narrowly missed Donald Trump at a campaign rally on July 13 has prompted a deluge of misinformation and disinformation online. Depending on your perspective, the attack was either a failed plot by the "deep state" to remove President Joe Biden's rival from the 2024 presidential race or a "false flag" operation designed to generate support for Trump. In fact, the FBI issued an official statement that a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man likely acted alone when he used an assault rifle to shoot the 45 president. But facts are rarely enough to stop the onslaught of disinformation, the deliberate use of lies and misleading claims, and misinformation, its unwitting cousin. Predictably, the unique circumstances of the shooting that left one dead and others injured has led to wild conjecture. Failing to secure a rooftop about 150 yards from the stage will no doubt cause hard questions for the Secret Service and their law enforcement partners in Butler, Pa., but it also opens the event to false narratives designed to advance the agendas of their authors. For Trump supporters, the shooting provides an opportunity to cast aspersions on the Biden Administration. Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) posted on X, "Joe Biden sent the orders." Rep. John James (R-MI) posted on the same platform, "They tried to silence him. They tried to jail him. Now they've tried to kill him." Elon Musk, who owns the tech company, posted that the conduct of the Secret Service was either "Extreme incompetence or it was deliberate." Others speculated online that it was Trump who had manufactured the moment, using the hashtag "staged." According to one user, "How did the [U.S. Secret Service] allow him to stop and pose for a photo opp if there was real danger??" A photo of a smiling Trump with a caption asking "Why is he so happy?" was removed from X because it was digitally altered. In addition to providing an opportunity for political actors to advance their causes, a crisis also allows hostile foreign adversaries to exploit the demand for information by filling the void with false claims. As special counsel Robert Mueller concluded in his 2019 report for the Department of Justice, the goals of foreign interests are often simply to sow division in America society. If we are busy fighting we each other, we lack the bandwidth to involve ourselves in world affairs. Information warfare allows countries like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea to attack us without firing a shot. Read More: The Danger of Treating Politics Like War Long-term solutions to mitigate the challenges of disinformation require changes to the way we regulate social media, data privacy, campaign spending and political advertising. But in the meantime, we can address how we respond to a rapidly evolving information ecosystem. First, leaders must speak to the public promptly during a crisis. Law enforcement officials tend to be cautious and stingy with facts until have been verified -- good instincts, certainly, but unlikely to fulfill the insatiable appetites of the news media and the public during a crisis. In the absence of actual news, some people will fill the vacuum with speculation or fabrication. Instead, law enforcement officials can reassure the public by quickly and candidly stating what they know and what they don't know, and even by explaining that some facts cannot be disclosed to avoid compromising the investigation. While the Secret Service will have some explaining to do in the days and weeks ahead, the FBI has provided regular updates about the suspect and its investigation in the attack as a domestic terrorism matter. Second, the public needs to build resilience against the false claims that permeate social media, particularly in times of emergencies when people are most eager to learn the facts. Purveyors of disinformation exploit crises to advance their own political, personal or profit-driven agendas by flooding the zone with false claims. The lies are then repeated, sometimes by people who actually believe them. Once a false claim is out there, it can be difficult to debunk it. Instead of believing everything we read online, we should engage in best practices for media literacy. Check the source of the information -- is it a credible journalism brand or an anonymous user online, who might be an imposter or even a bot, programmed through artificial intelligence to expand the reach of a false claim. Look for a second source. If a report is accurate, it likely will be independently confirmed by another news outlet. Is the information in the news report attributed to a reliable source? Does the report cite evidence for its claim? If not, we should be skeptical of sensational news, and consumers of news can also verify claims with various fact-checking services online. Democracy depends on an informed electorate. A disinformed electorate leads to chaos.

Trump Assassination Attempt Poses New Test for U.S. Democracy

The attempt on former President Donald Trump's life puts leaders on both sides of the aisle on high alert. After a shooting that injured former President Donald Trump and killed a spectator at a campaign rally, leaders of both parties must unite behind efforts to calm and stabilize the political climate, says Jacob Ware, a research fellow focusing on domestic and international terrorism and counterterrorism at the Council on Foreign Relations, and co-author with CFR fellow Bruce Hoffman of "God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America." Authorities will need to significantly raise their guard against the imminent threats of more violence. President Joe Biden's announcement of improved security measures around Trump and of reviewed protocols for the Republican convention are welcome first steps. Coordination needs to be improved to ensure gaps in defenses are plugged, and security perimeters will likely broaden after this breach. But most critically, politicians of both major political parties need to commit to more productive and uniting political rhetoric, rather than language that continues to divide Americans. The attack continues an ongoing trend of political extremists seeking to silence their political rivals through violence, rather than the ballot box. At this moment, little is known about the 20-year-old perpetrator, beyond his name, hometown and a voting form listing his registration as Republican. His motive, or how he evaded the security cordon, are unknown. It is worth noting that this was not the first move toward political violence to strike this U.S. election cycle. For instance, in May, law enforcement apprehended a white supremacist who was traveling to Atlanta to commit a mass shooting, hoping to start a race war before the election. That would-be terrorist would have joined a long line of violent far-right extremists to target minority communities in the United States over the past several years. The political temperature is steadily rising, and as Graham Allison and Michael J. Morell argued in Foreign Affairs in June, "The Terrorism Warning Lights Are Blinking Red Again." This is unlikely to be the end of the violence between now and the November elections, with the Republican convention in Milwaukee this week the next major focus of concern. Recent polling conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute suggests that almost a quarter of Americans support the statement that "American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save the country," including 33% of Republicans and 13% of Democrats. President Biden's initial response, calling the attack "sick" and speaking with his stricken adversary to express support, were encouraging, as were statements by other prominent Democrats including former President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as more prominent Republicans such as former President George W. Bush and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The response of some on the right -- finger-pointing and blaming Democrats for their heated rhetoric -- is less productive. Vice presidential candidate J. D. Vance, for instance, asserted that Biden campaign "rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination," seemingly a response to recent Biden comments that "It's time to put Trump in a bullseye." Political violence, however, has already been normalized in the United States. The reaction to this incident, for example, contrasts greatly with the reaction of many right-wing political figures to the terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which included calls to assassinate a sitting vice president, after which they hailed perpetrators as "political prisoners," "martyrs," "heroes," and "warriors." The assassination attempt against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in October 2022 was similarly met with conspiracy theories, featuring a dose of homophobic mockery. America urgently needs a bipartisan condemnation of rising political violence, from all actors and against all targets. Allies and adversaries overseas responded swiftly to the shooting with expressions of concern and will be closely watching the U.S. response in the days to come. Allied countries, who have regarded the escalating division and political violence in the United States with horror, have reacted with sweeping condemnations of the continued dismantling of norms against political violence in democracies. Although several of them, including the United Kingdom and Japan, have already suffered high-profile assassinations in the past several years, the attempt on the former and possible future leader of the free world may offer permission for seditious elements in other countries to similarly make attempts on their political leaders. Moreover, the assassination attempt struck just days after the Department of Justice announced it had disrupted a Russian effort to use generative AI to spread disinformation in the United States ahead of the election. Needless to say, this dark day in American history will provide even more ammunition to the Russian disinformation machinery, as well as adversaries in China and Iran, who would welcome the further erosion of American democracy and its influence in the world. Jacob Ware is a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. This commentary was originally published by The Council on Foreign Relations, an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank and publisher dedicated to helping citizens better understand the world and foreign policy choices.