Musk Backs Trump, Shooting Conspiracies Skyrocket on X

Shortly after reports of a shooting at a Trump rally emerged this afternoon, conspiracy theories began to flood X, previously known as Twitter. The platform swiftly pushed hashtags like “#falseflag” and “staged” to the forefront of user topics. This act aligns with X owner Elon Musk’s firm stance on “free speech,” which often encapsulates misinformation.

Diving into these trending topics on X, users will mostly encounter brief posts alleging the shooting is either fake or a staged event. (Notably, there is no evidence to support these claims.) By spotlighting these subjects in the trending section, X inadvertently amplifies their reach and significance.

In contrast, other social media giants appeared to handle the situation with greater responsibility. On YouTube, searches related to the incident primarily highlighted credible news clips and verified creators’ content. Facebook, since retiring its trending topics feature in 2018, directed users mostly to well-established news outlets. Threads, while occasionally displaying conspiracy-related posts, did not consistently promote these narratives in their trending topics.

Attempts to get a response from X were met with an auto-reply from their press team stating, “Busy now, please check back later.” This non-response seems to reflect the platform’s current acceptance of its role as a hub for public discourse—truthful or otherwise. Even as conspiracies continued to trend, X’s official account succinctly declared, “global town square.”