Was the Covington Students Incident Started...By a Fake Twitter Account?
The incident with the Covington students exposed just how full of hate the left really is (see Top Ten WORST Reactions to the Covington Catholic Teen March for Life Video and Teen at the Center of the Viral March for Life Video Speaks Out). So much so that there are reports on Twitter the school had to close on Tuesday due to security threats. Not 24 hours after the initial recording of the students polluted the internet, it became clear the entire incident between the Native American elder and the students was nothing but a deceptively edited video. A deceptively edited video which caused a massive internet mob, thus resulting in reports of Covington school needing to CLOSE due to threats from a fake story. You feeling the gravity of the situation yet? Actions have consequences.
But was the entire video incident caused by a single fake Twitter account? I believe this is where we say "whoa, if true."
Twitter suspended an account on Monday afternoon that helped spread a controversial encounter between a Native American elder and a group of high school students wearing Make America Great Again hats. The account claimed to belong to a California schoolteacher. Its profile photo was not of a schoolteacher, but of a blogger based in Brazil, CNN Business found. Twitter suspended the account soon after CNN Business asked about it.[The deceptively edited] version of the video was viewed at least 2.5 million times and was retweeted at least 14,400 times, according to a cached version of the tweet seen by CNN Business. The video shared by @2020fight did not show what preceded the confrontation between the Native American elder and the high school students. The video had been posted earlier on Instagram by someone who was at the event, but it was @2020fight's caption that helped frame the news cycle.
This in no way excuses the reaction to the video, where blue verified checkmarks went all in on the hate. If anything, it's an alarming example of just how easily manipulated media, and many who are not media, can be. Especially if we see something on the internet that validates our confirmation bias. Here's looking at you, anti-Trump mobsters and Compassionate conservatives who want to be liked by leftists.
We're going to find out ten years down the road that social media was a mistake. Read also OPINION: Social Media, and How We Use It, is a Real Problem.
