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Users on X, Truth Social, Rumble and Gab have benefited from a series of major events to spread baseless falsehoods as their followers and engagement skyrocket.
After the assassination attempt against former President Donald J. Trump, calmer voices on both sides of the political spectrum called for “lowering the temperature” of today’s toxic political discourse.
By the time President Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race eight days later, the temperature was as scorching as ever.
The internet has churned out a torrent of anger, recrimination and baseless conspiratorial theorizing that has all but drowned out what proved to be short-lived appeals for civility.
The emergence of Vice President Kamala Harris as the new Democratic front-runner touched off new paroxysms of disinformation and explicitly hateful comments. More than one in 10 posts mentioning her on X on Sunday included racist or sexist attacks, according to PeakMetrics, which tracks activity online. They included false claims about her race and whether she was ineligible to run for the presidency because she was not a citizen. (She is a citizen, and she is eligible to run.)
Continued below.
www.nytimes.com
After the assassination attempt against former President Donald J. Trump, calmer voices on both sides of the political spectrum called for “lowering the temperature” of today’s toxic political discourse.
By the time President Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race eight days later, the temperature was as scorching as ever.
The internet has churned out a torrent of anger, recrimination and baseless conspiratorial theorizing that has all but drowned out what proved to be short-lived appeals for civility.
The emergence of Vice President Kamala Harris as the new Democratic front-runner touched off new paroxysms of disinformation and explicitly hateful comments. More than one in 10 posts mentioning her on X on Sunday included racist or sexist attacks, according to PeakMetrics, which tracks activity online. They included false claims about her race and whether she was ineligible to run for the presidency because she was not a citizen. (She is a citizen, and she is eligible to run.)
Continued below.

A Volatile Election Is Intensifying Conspiracy Theories Online
Users on X, Truth Social, Rumble and Gab have benefited from a series of major events to spread baseless falsehoods as their followers and engagement skyrocket.