The minutes after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.
Some on the political left claimed鈥攚ithout evidence鈥� that Trump staged the attack himself to appear heroic, even going so far as to argue that he used fake blood, Hollywood-style. Some on the right鈥攁gain, without evidence鈥攕aid the assassination was ordered by President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Wildly inaccurate information exploding all over social media has become a routine reaction to major news events these days, whether it鈥檚 Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine or the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters claiming the 2020 presidential election had been stolen.
鈥淎nytime you have breaking news, conspiracy theories will flood social media [even] as [factual] stories are developing,鈥� said Pamela Brunskill, the senior director of education design at the News Literacy Project, a nonprofit that seeks to advance the development and teaching of news literacy in schools.
In fact, at this polarized moment in history, conspiracy theories following a significant news event like the assassination attempt on Trump are essentially 鈥渁 given,鈥� said Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, the executive director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education, a nonprofit that promotes media literacy as an essential life skill. 鈥淲e know this is the pattern in the world in which we live in right now,鈥� she said.
But educators can help students separate the facts鈥攅ven as they are still being confirmed鈥攆rom dubious fiction, experts said.
Here are three key steps to help students bring a critical eye to conspiracy theories:
1. Help students understand why conspiracies catch fire
There鈥檚 a reason people are drawn to conspiracy theories: They are often 鈥渆xciting, fascinating narratives,鈥� Brunskill said.
And they can be easy to wrap your mind around, especially if they fit with your own natural biases, she added. 鈥淐omplex social issues and problems are rarely clear cut, but conspiracy theories provide people with simplified explanations, and usually someone or something to blame.鈥�
What鈥檚 more, they 鈥減rovide a sense of belonging,鈥� Brunskill said. The communities that often emerge around even far-fetched conspiracies 鈥減rovide believers with a sense of connection and purpose that we all need,鈥� she said.
aren鈥檛 a new phenomenon. Anyone who has ever googled the painstakingly picked-apart , a home movie of John F. Kennedy鈥檚 assassination, knows conspiracies predate the growth of social media platforms by decades.
Precedents like that are 鈥渞eally key for students to understand,鈥� Ciulla Lipkin said. 鈥淭hese patterns are historical.鈥�
The big difference now is that conspiracy theories are more prevalent 鈥渂ecause they鈥檙e able to spread faster鈥� due to social media.
Teachers can use the attempted assassination to remind their students that the goal of social media companies is to keep people on their platforms for as long as possible. That often means showing them posts鈥攊ncluding about wild conspiracy theories鈥攖hat confirm their own opinions, as opposed to exposing them to a broad range of arguments and viewpoints.
鈥淢indless scrolling is one of the first things we do鈥� after a major news event, Brunksill said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the biggest habits I think we need to break, allowing social media to feed you the information instead of controlling what you see.鈥�
2. Ask students to use evidence to back up their beliefs
That鈥檚 why it can be helpful to ask students to take a pause and reflect on the information they鈥檙e ingesting, Brunskill added.
When teachers try to pick apart a particular theory, students may feel like they are 鈥渁ttacking them personally and their group,鈥� Brunskill said.
Instead, teachers can ask students to explain why they believe something is true. What is the evidence behind it? 鈥淲e want individuals to start talking and thinking through their logic on their own,鈥� Brunskill said.
Students need to back up their arguments with information gleaned from . Those sources, such as news organizations鈥攁re likely to have ethical guidelines and standards, be transparent about their reporting practices and sources of income, and cite sources from a range of perspectives.
鈥淭ry to ascertain if it鈥檚 somebody with a political motivation, if it鈥檚 somebody with a financial motivation, or a standard-based news organization that is there trying to inform you,鈥� Brunskill said.
Students also need to be clear that, when they are reading a news article from a legitimate source, the information may initially be incomplete, especially in a rapidly unfolding story, she added.
There is almost always a time 鈥済ap between what the public wants to know and what information is available,鈥� Brunskill said.
For instance, many mainstream news organizations did not initially report that the July 13 shooting was an attempted assassination because that couldn鈥檛 be immediately verified, Brunskill said. Later, conservative critics complained on social media that mainstream outlets were trying to downplay the seriousness of the event.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 part of the issue, that most people don鈥檛 understand the practice of journalism,鈥� Ciulla Lipkin said.
3. Remind students that images can be manipulated
Students have already seen how artificial intelligence can be employed to create fake images, audio, or video. These so-called 鈥渄eepfakes鈥� have affected everyone from Taylor Swift to high school students. And they often surface to bolster conspiracy theories in the wake of a breaking news event.
For instance, in that began circulating shortly after the attempted assassination, a U.S. Secret Service agent appears to be smiling while trying to help Trump get to safety.
The photo lends credence to the inaccurate but widely circulated theory that the Secret Service allowed the attack to happen, either to advance Biden鈥檚 electoral chances or to make Trump appear heroic.
These manipulations provide a jumping-off point for a broader conversation about how 鈥渇ake images can further convolute information,鈥� following a politically-charged news event, Brunskill said.
