Far-Right conspiracy theorists peddle lies and misinformation following Buffalo, Uvalde massacres

In wake of the back-to-back mass shootings that have taken place in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas, right-wing conspiracy theorists have begun spreading lies and misinformation about the deadly attacks.

According to Axios, a growing "pipeline of misinformation" that spans from "obscure internet platforms to the mouths of sitting members of Congress 'seems to be going a lot faster now.'" Speaking to the news outlet, Bryce Webster-Jacobsen, who serves as the intelligence operations director at the firm GroupSense, weighed in on the narratives he has been seeing online.

"The misinformation narratives that start on places like 4chan or Reddit make it to the public consciousness really quickly," he added.

Jared Holt, a Digital Forensic Research Lab resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, also noted that they are "getting picked up by individuals with more power and louder voices. Holt added, "So the effect of misinformation has felt like it's multiplying."

Many of the conspiracy theories circulating on social media platforms have aligned the mass shooters with politically-motivated narratives. Per Axios:

In Uvalde, misinformation falsely claiming the shooter was transgender appears to have quickly spread from 4chan, an anonymous message board, to the mainstream. The pictures used to support the falsehood were pulled from a user on Reddit. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) tweeted that the shooter was a "transsexual leftist illegal alien," but later deleted the post.

In Buffalo, misinformation falsely claiming that the shooting was a "false flag" operation — an attack disguised to look like it was made by the opposite side in a conflict — spread quickly in the aftermath of the massacre. A conservative Arizona state lawmaker is under investigation by the Arizona Senate for her Telegram post endorsing the theory.

"Often, it strikes me that these kinds of communities or figures ... want to believe a certain thing, and someone on the internet finds something to provide source material," Holt said. "They come up with the concept first and then scour the internet to patch details in there so that it can live on."

The so-called "great replacement theory" is said to have motivated the Buffalo shooter, according to his "manifesto."

"There are some common stories that always get spread, and they’re usually about the shooter's identity — and they usually use the same pictures and names," Webster-Jacobsen also noted.

Caroline Orr Bueno, a behavioral scientist who conducts research on social media manipulation also explained the rise in conspiracy theories. "People want answers, and if they’re not getting them from authorities, they’ll get them somewhere else," said Bueno.