Conspiracy theories run rampant online amid Floyd protests

Misinformation about the killing of George Floyd and subsequent protests is spreading rapidly online, adding to the chaos as nationwide demonstrations enter their second week.

The conspiracy theories range from claims that Floyd’s arrest was staged to others saying he is still alive, despite video evidence that the 46-year-old unarmed black man died in police custody in Minneapolis after a white police officer knelt on his neck for about eight minutes.

Other unfounded claims say Floyd’s death was part of an international conspiracy to destabilize the U.S., while some allege that former officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with second-degree murder in the slaying, is an actor.

Twitter has been fertile ground for many of the unfounded claims. A search for the phrase “George Floyd is not dead” brings up dozens of results on the platform.

One account tweeted over the weekend that “George Floyd’s execution is part of a Russian military intelligence operation.” The post has more than 4,400 likes and 1,800 retweets without comment.

Another tweet, which claimed that Chauvin was pictured wearing a “Make Whites Great Again” hat, was retweeted more than 19,000 times despite Twitter warning that the image contained manipulated media.

But much of the misinformation has focused on the subsequent protests and who is organizing them.

“Whenever there is confusion or something people don’t know, there is an opportunity for misinformation to come in,” said Diara Townes, an investigative researcher at First Draft, an organization dedicated to fighting online misinformation. “A lack of reliable information creates a vacuum for bad actors to exploit with mis- and disinformation.”

One entity that has been painted as orchestrating the protests — or at least the more violent parts of them — is antifa, a term referring to radical activists who say they use direct action to fight against fascism.

Proponents of the theory have pointed to social media accounts purporting to speak for antifa and encouraging violence, but those allegations have not been substantiated.

Twitter took down an account with the handle @antifa_us this week that was tied to white nationalist group Identity Evropa after it posted a tweet inciting violence.

For years “right wing provocateurs have been impersonating antifa, using inflaming rhetoric and doing their best to create a boogeyman on the left,” said Joan Donovan, research director at the Harvard Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.

Baseless theories about antifa have also circulated widely on messaging platforms such as Telegram and neighborhood sites like Nextdoor, according to Townes.