A social media account that some initially believed belonged to the Tumbler Ridge shooter turned out to be a fraud — and even briefly fooled a prominent non-profit organization.
The username and display name on the X profile, which featured numerous racist, white supremacist and antisemetic posts, appeared to match the ones on a YouTube channel belonging to the person RCMP identified as the shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar.
People online used the YouTube account in their efforts to find the suspect and uncover possible motivations for Tuesday's mass shooting in a northeastern B.C. town that left eight people dead and two more seriously injured. Police said the shooter also died by suicide.
The New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) published a report Wednesday that initially referenced the X profile and said the shooter had an interest in "gore, guns, and white supremacy."
But the X account, which was soon removed, turned out to be somebody pretending to be the shooter.
Disinformation experts told CBC News that intentionally spreading false information, especially in the wake of tragedies like mass shootings, can not only harm victims, but also further marginalize already vulnerable groups and contribute to polarization.
"We often take the information that we see and we allow it to enter into some preconceived notions we have about others without us actually knowing if the information is accurate," said Valérie Kindarji, a visiting researcher at The Montreal...
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