Months after supporters of now-former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, debunked conspiracy theories about who was behind the insurrection continue to circulate on Facebook.
That's according to new research from Avaaz, shared exclusively with U.S. TODAY. The online activist network found that, in 2021, the two dominant misinformation narratives about the attack on Facebook and Instagram were false claims that anti-fascist activists "infiltrated the crowd and incited the insurrection" and that the FBI played a role in the violence.
Between January and October, researchers found 116 posts and 31 articles on Facebook and Instagram that contained the debunked claims. Together, they generated nearly 1 million likes, shares and comments, according to the Avaaz analysis.
The Avaaz findings come amid a bipartisan investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection, as well as congressional testimony on the role that Facebook played in the attack.
Over the past few weeks, the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot has issued subpoenas to far-right groups, former Trump advisers and organizers of the "Stop the Steal" movement. The committee has also demanded records related to the insurrection from technology companies like Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook.
"At this point, Facebook is working with us to provide the necessary information we requested," Rep. Bennie G. Johnson, the Democratic chair of the committee, told "Face the Nation" in late October.
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