False flag conspiracy theories spread after mass shootings

A 2018 MIT study published in Science found false stories spread six times faster than truth on Twitter. Researchers analyzed 126,000 stories tweeted by 3 million people and found falsehoods are 70% more likely to be retweeted.

After the July 2024 Trump rally shooting, the IFInstitute for Strategic Dialogue tracked over 1 million uses of 'false flag' in two months. 'Staged' mentions spiked 4,000% and conspiracy posts reached 215 million views on X within 48 hours.

The CFCenter for Countering Digital Hate found 45% of accounts spreading false flag theories about the Trump rally shooting were bots or inauthentic accounts. Community Notes on X added context to fewer than 5% of conspiratorial posts during crisis moments.

AJAlex Jones owes $1.4 billion to SHSandy Hook families after two juries in 🦞Connecticut and 🤠Texas found him liable for spreading conspiracy theories that the 2012 shooting was a hoax. A Connecticut jury awarded $965 million in compensatory damages, plus $474 million in punitive damages.

The Supreme Court rejected AJAlex Jones's appeal on Oct. 14, 2025, in a one-sentence order without written explanation. The decision leaves the judgment intact and allows families to continue collection efforts through bankruptcy court.

SHSandy Hook families offered to settle the debt for at least $85 million over 10 years, pennies on the dollar of the full judgment. Jones declared bankruptcy and a federal court ruled the judgment cannot be discharged.

The FBI's May 2019 intelligence bulletin identified conspiracy theories as motivating domestic extremists to commit violent acts. The report cited QAnon and Pizzagate as examples where believers committed violence targeting people they falsely believed were part of conspiracies.