How conspiracy theories in the US became more personal, more cruel and more mainstream after the Sandy Hook shootings
- Written by Amanda J. Crawford, Assistant Professor of Journalism, University of Connecticut
Conspiracy theories are powerful forces in the U.S. They have damaged public health amid a global pandemic, shaken faith in the democratic process and helped spark[1] a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol in January 2021.
These conspiracy theories are part of a dangerous misinformation crisis that has been building for years in the U.S.
American politics has long had a paranoid streak[2], and belief in conspiracy theories is nothing new[3]. But as the news cycle reminds us daily, outlandish conspiracy theories born on social media now regularly achieve mainstream acceptance and are echoed by people in power.
As a journalism professor [4] at the University of Connecticut, I have studied the misinformation [5] around the mass shooting that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012. I consider it the first major conspiracy theory of the modern social media age, and I believe we can trace our current predicament to the tragedy’s aftermath.
Nine years ago, the Sandy Hook shooting demonstrated how fringe ideas could quickly become mainstream[6] on social media and win support from various establishment figures – even when the conspiracy theory targeted grieving families of young students and school staff killed during the massacre.
Those who claimed the tragedy was a hoax showed up in Newtown, Connecticut, and harassed people connected to the shooting. This provided an early example of how misinformation spread on social media could cause real-world harm.
New age of social media and distrust
Social media’s role in spreading misinformation[8] has been well documented in recent years. The year of the Sandy Hook shooting, 2012, marked the first year that more than half of all American adults used social media[9].
It also marked a modern low[10] in public trust of the media. Gallup’s annual survey[11] has since showed even lower levels of trust in the media in 2016 and 2021.
These two coinciding trends – which continue to drive misinformation – pushed fringe doubts about Sandy Hook quickly into the U.S. mainstream[12]. Speculation that the shooting was a false flag[13] – an attack made to look as if it were committed by someone else – began to circulate on Twitter and other social media sites almost immediately. Far-right commentator and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and other fringe voices[14] amplified these false claims.
Jones was recently found liable by default[15] in defamation cases filed by Sandy Hook families.
Mistakes in breaking news reports[16] about the shooting, such as conflicting information on the gun used and the identity of the shooter, were spliced together in YouTube videos and compiled on blogs as proof of a conspiracy, as my research[17] shows. Amateur sleuths collaborated in Facebook groups that promoted the shooting as a hoax and lured new users down the rabbit hole.
Soon, a variety of establishment figures[18], including the 2010 Republican nominee for Connecticut attorney general, Martha Dean[19], gave credence[20] to doubts about the tragedy.
Six months later, as gun control legislation stalled in Congress[21], a university poll[22] found 1 in 4 people thought the truth about Sandy Hook was being hidden to advance a political agenda. Many others said they weren’t sure. The results were so unbelievable that some media outlets questioned[23] the poll’s accuracy.
Today, other conspiracy theories have followed a similar trajectory on social media. The media is awash with stories about the popularity of the bizarre QAnon conspiracy movement[24], which falsely claims top Democrats are part of a Satan-worshipping pedophile ring. A member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, has also publicly denied Sandy Hook[25] and other mass shootings.
But back in 2012, the spread of outlandish conspiracy theories from social media into the mainstream was a relatively new phenomenon, and an indication of what was to come.
Zach Gibson/Getty Images[26]New breed of conspiracies
Sandy Hook also marked a turning point in the nature of conspiracy theories and their targets. Before Sandy Hook, popular American conspiracy theories generally villainized shadowy elites or forces within the government. Many 9/11 “truthers,” for example, believed the government[27] was behind the terrorist attacks, but they generally left victims’ families alone.
Sandy Hook conspiracy theorists accused family members of those killed[28], survivors of the shooting, religious leaders, neighbors[29] and first responders of being part of a government plot.
Newtown parents were accused of faking their children’s deaths, or their very existence. There were also allegations they were part of a child sex cult.
This change in conspiratorial targets from veiled government and elite figures to everyday people marked a shift in the trajectory of American conspiracy theories.
Since Sandy Hook, survivors of many other high-profile mass shootings[30] and attacks, such as the Boston Marathon bombing [31] and the Charlottesville car attack[32], have had their trauma compounded by denial about their tragedies.
And the perverse idea of a politically connected pedophile ring has become a key tenet in two subsequent conspiracy theories: Pizzagate[33] and QAnon[34].
The kind of harassment and death threats[35] targeting Sandy Hook families has also become a common fallout of conspiracy theories. In the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, the owners and employees of a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor[36] alleged to be part of a pedophile ring that included politicians continue to be targeted by adherents of that conspiracy theory. In 2016, one man drove hundreds of miles to investigate and fired his assault rifle[37] in the restaurant.
Some people who remain skeptical of the COVID-19 pandemic have harassed front-line health workers [38]. Local election workers across the country have been threatened[39] and accused of being part of a conspiracy to steal the 2020 presidential election.
The legacy of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook is a legacy of misinformation – the start of a crisis that will likely plague the U.S. for years to come.
[The Conversation’s Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories. Sign up for Politics Weekly[40].]
References
- ^ helped spark (abcnews.go.com)
- ^ paranoid streak (harpers.org)
- ^ nothing new (www.rollingstone.com)
- ^ journalism professor (journalism.uconn.edu)
- ^ studied the misinformation (www.youtube.com)
- ^ mainstream (www.buzzfeednews.com)
- ^ Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images (www.gettyimages.com)
- ^ role in spreading misinformation (theconversation.com)
- ^ used social media (www.pewresearch.org)
- ^ modern low (news.gallup.com)
- ^ annual survey (news.gallup.com)
- ^ mainstream (www.buzzfeednews.com)
- ^ false flag (www.cjr.org)
- ^ fringe voices (www.chronicle.com)
- ^ liable by default (theconversation.com)
- ^ Mistakes in breaking news reports (www.npr.org)
- ^ my research (youtu.be)
- ^ establishment figures (www.salon.com)
- ^ Martha Dean (ballotpedia.org)
- ^ gave credence (www.nhregister.com)
- ^ stalled in Congress (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ university poll (portal.fdu.edu)
- ^ questioned (www.theatlantic.com)
- ^ QAnon conspiracy movement (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ Sandy Hook (www.washingtonpost.com)
- ^ Zach Gibson/Getty Images (media.gettyimages.com)
- ^ believed the government (www.bbc.com)
- ^ family members of those killed (www.npr.org)
- ^ neighbors (www.salon.com)
- ^ mass shootings (theconversation.com)
- ^ Boston Marathon bombing (www.theguardian.com)
- ^ Charlottesville car attack (www.washingtonpost.com)
- ^ Pizzagate (www.vox.com)
- ^ QAnon (www.theatlantic.com)
- ^ death threats (www.sun-sentinel.com)
- ^ D.C., pizza parlor (www.vox.com)
- ^ one man drove hundreds of miles to investigate and fired his assault rifle (www.washingtonpost.com)
- ^ health workers (www.usnews.com)
- ^ have been threatened (www.npr.org)
- ^ Sign up for Politics Weekly (theconversation.com)
Authors: Amanda J. Crawford, Assistant Professor of Journalism, University of Connecticut