Chaos on social media platforms after Trump shooting is a mess of their own making

The social media industry’s tepid response this week to the conspiracy theories floating wildly on their platforms about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump was part of a purposeful shift away from actively policing online speech – even in the face of potentially dangerous rhetoric.

The social media industry’s tepid response this week to the conspiracy theories floating wildly on their platforms about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump was part of a purposeful shift away from actively policing online speech – even in the face of potentially dangerous rhetoric. The reaction could not be more different from 2021, in wake of the country’s last brush with political violence. That does not bode well for the coming election – or its aftermath. Three years ago, major online platforms including Meta, Twitter and YouTube took swift action to keep the attack on America’s democracy on January 6 from spiraling online – suspending thousands of accounts that had promoted election lies, extending a pause on political advertising and removing posts that praised the US Capitol attack, among other moves. In stark contrast, however, social media platforms over the past few days have been overrun by false claims about the attempt on Trump’s life, ranging from baseless left-wing speculation that the incident had been “staged” for Trump’s own political benefit to right-wing conspiracy theories falsely suggesting “deep state” government agents or perhaps President Joe Biden himself had somehow orchestrated the attack. The incident was not staged. The US Secret Service has described it as an assassination attempt and the Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged it as a security failure. Investigators are still searching for the shooter’s motive. And Biden condemned political violence following the attack, pledging an independent investigation into the security lapse as well. Big Tech CEOs have universally echoed Biden’s remarks. But amid the torrent of conspiracy theorizing, the social media platforms have been largely silent about their own role in how the event has played out online, reflecting a sharp departure from their previous hands-on approach to containing the spread of falsehoods that, left unchecked, could risk fueling further conflict.