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Following a mass shooting at a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston, Maine, yesterday evening that left at least 18 people dead, state police urgently warned residents to “stay inside your home with the doors locked” as they mounted a manhunt for the suspect.
Misinformation about the suspect flooded social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and TikTok moments after the shooting. On X, verified accounts pushed out bogus claims that the threat had been neutralized and a suspect had been arrested. Police have since identified 40-year-old Robert Card as a “person of interest” in the shooting. While Card remains at large as of 10 am ET this morning, posts featured videos of the supposed arrest that have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
A prolific verified X account with almost 300,000 followers was among the first to post the claim that the suspect had been arrested, and while the account subsequently posted an update stating that the suspect was still at large, the original post—which has been seen over 170,000 times—remains active.
The top result for the search term “Robert Card arrested” on X was a post featuring the same video that has been viewed over 1.9 million times, even though it had a Community Note attached making it clear the claims in the post were false.
The same video circulating on X was also being shared on TikTok, where one post had been viewed 80,000 times by this morning.
Another of the main false narratives circulating in the hours after Card was identified was that he had been arrested in 2016 for possessing and disseminating sexually explicit materials. This was also inaccurate: It refers to a different person named Robert Card, who is also 40 years old and from Maine.
Some accounts labeled Card “a far-left lunatic” based on the unverified claim that he voted for former US president Barack Obama. Others wildly tried to link the incident to the current crisis in the Middle East, claiming, without evidence, that Card “was a Hamas supporter.”
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While misinformation about the mass shooting proliferated across social media, the problem was acute on X, where owner Elon Musk has incentivized people to post engaging and viral content even if it’s not accurate. As a result, users rushed to be the first to post updates about the shooting despite being blatantly false.
“It’s as if everyone thinks disinformation is a problem, but not for them personally—only for other people,” Caroline Orr, a behavioral scientist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland who tracks disinformation online, wrote on X, adding: “When 20+ people are murdered in a mass shooting, and the reaction of most people on this website is: ‘How can I use this to push a political agenda?’ or ‘How can I use this to attack XYZ person?’ … that reflects something far more disturbing.”
X, Meta, and TikTok did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
At 3 am ET this morning, Lewiston Police Department confirmed on its Facebook page that Card, a certified firearms instructor and a member of the US Army from Bowdoin, Maine, was still on the run. The department said Card “should be considered armed and dangerous” and that members of the public should not approach him.
Law enforcement believes the shooter killed at least 16 people and 13 more at around 7 pm yesterday at the Sparetime Recreation bowling alley and the nearby Schemengees Bar and Grille. Officials said the death toll is expected to rise, with one local city councilor telling CNN that it could be as high as 22.
The incident was the nation’s worst mass shooting this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Card, whose own X profile was filled with conspiracy theories about trans mass shooters and pro-MAGA content, had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks earlier this year after he reported “hearing voices and threats to shoot up the National Guard Base in Saco, Maine,” according to a police bulletin circulated by law enforcement and reported by AP.
Notably, Card also liked two posts, one from Donald Trump Jr. and another by far-right personality Dinesh D'Souza, about their opposition to gun control.
The rapid unchecked spread of misinformation last night and into this morning mirrored the response earlier this month when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7. In the hours and days following the attack and the bombing of Gaza by the Israeli government, X was overrun by disinformation shared by verified users, who rehashed old footage, video game content, and photoshopped images to push partisan narratives.
Updated at 10:55 am ET, October 26, 2023, to include the latest casualty and wounded figures provided by Maine governor Janet Mills during a press conference this morning.
