"Worries About Rapid Spread of False Claims"
Former U.S. President Donald Trump was shot during an election campaign, and various conspiracy theories and fake news are spreading online about the background of the shooting.
On the 14th (local time), Chosun Ilbo reported that the U.S. NBC stated, "False claims are rapidly spreading in a situation where detailed information about the Trump shooting incident has hardly been disclosed."
Fake news about the Trump shooter posted on an X account with 88,000 followers. It was viewed by 60,000 people within a few hours of being posted. [Photo by X (formerly Twitter)]
Claims have emerged on platforms mainly used by Trump supporters, including Truth Social, as well as X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Telegram, that far-left terrorist groups or government agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were involved.
Some politicians also echoed these conspiracy theories. Republican Representative Mike Collins (Georgia) claimed on X that "President Joe Biden ordered this shooting," but did not provide any evidence.
On the real-time trends of the U.S. X platform, "Trump" and "Secret Service" appeared as popular search terms. There were also mentions of "Antifa," short for Anti-Fascist Action, which refers to far-left groups opposing far-right forces such as fascism, white supremacy, and neo-Nazism.
On the 13th (local time), after a shooting occurred at former President Trump's election rally held in Butler, Pennsylvania, a supporter is seen leaning against Pence. [Photo by Reuters/Yonhap News]
A photo of Mark Violet also caused controversy online. It was claimed that a man wearing sunglasses and a black hat posted a video on YouTube before the Trump attack saying, "Justice is coming." The man identified as the shooter was known to be Marco Violi, an Italian YouTuber who uploads soccer-related vlogs.
He strongly denied involvement in the Trump shooting situation on his Instagram. He stated, "I was in Rome, Italy, and had no idea what was happening," after which accounts that had targeted Violi as the shooter deleted their posts without any explanation.
Many posts used the word "Staged." Nearly 300,000 posts appeared within an hour of the incident, and another X account shared names of prominent Democratic and Republican lawmakers, claiming "Trump may have conspired with the CIA to orchestrate this incident," garnering millions of views.
NBC emphasized, "There is no evidence supporting these claims."
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is seen clenching his fist towards his supporters after being shot on the 13th. [Photo by X]
Concerns about indiscriminate fake news were also raised. Roberta Braga, founder of the think tank Digital Democracy Organization, warned the New York Times, "A lot of misinformation will spread about who is behind the shooting and who carried it out," adding, "We need to be careful with emotional language."
Meanwhile, Republican figures appear to be rallying their supporters by posting photos of former President Trump clenching his fist after the shooting on their social media. Representative Rich McCormick posted the photo, writing, "This cowardly attempt to assassinate our candidate will further unite Trump supporters." Representative Matt Gaetz said, "We will overcome and defeat evil. Never surrender."
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