The caravan of rumors: Twitter to respond to the disaster

Honduran migrants were heading to the United States on October 25, 2018. Photo: Getty

The history of the plant The caravan of American migrants has dominated cable news for weeks; Sayar, accused of sending pipe bombs to more than a dozen prominent Democrats, and Robert Bowers, accused of murdering 11 people during a breeze at a Pittsburgh weekend synagogue.

The debate around the caravan of mainly Honduran immigrants heading to the US-Mexico border has become the most important theme of the last leg of the mid-term elections of 2018. This raging controversy collection seems to stir up the anger of the voters.

A rumor about the caravan quickly solidified, amplified by the headlines of the traditional stores and by verifications of fact: George Soros personally finances the caravan, it is somehow behind the group Pueblos Sin Fronteras who has organized and whose goal is to change the game. result of the midterms to favor the radical left.

Where and when did these requests come about and how do they slip into headlines? In my research, published on Medium last week, I found the first social media posts that launched the narrative of the migrant caravan funded by Soros.

The first claims of a direct link between "Soros" (funding) and "caravan" seem to have been published on Twitter on March 30th.

Photo: Google Trends

Of course, it was a different caravan. But this is the origin of the larger theme and, more importantly, associative keywords. The story of another caravan supposedly funded by Soros was amplified in April by TheBlaze and WorldNetDaily, as well as by the usual range of blogs, Keep America Great Bots sketchy, human beings wearing red hats and indirectly by public publications, fact checks Acute sites that amplified the rumor by criticizing it.

Let's start at the beginning. (CJR has removed information to identify specific active accounts in order to avoid contributing to the spread of misinformation.)

1. The first tweet that attributed the caravan to Soros appeared on Twitter at the end of March. (And no, there is no reference to this statement in Breitbart's story about this caravan, which is linked in the tweet.)
   
2. A handful of caravan references appeared on Twitter in the last two days of March. A tweet related to a conspiracy video on YouTube, which is still in the news. But the video does not establish a direct link between the Central American caravan and Soros. The tweet is also linked to a thread on the Voat bulletin board on March 31, which contains comments make attempt to establish the story of caravan financing.
3. Another tweet published on March 31st by an astroturf account is linked to a story of BuzzFeed, in which George Soros is not mentioned at all.
   
4. Then, on March 31st, an answer comes under a tweet from Fox Business animator Lou Dobbs, tagging right-wing blogger and Fox News host Sara A. Carter. The answer takes an innocent tone –just a friendly and interested citizen, wondering if we should investigate on it!
   
   
5. On April 2, the conspirators cease to be shy; for the first time, a Twitter account refers to content posted outside of forums and social media. The article, an editorial posted on a right-wing marginal site called The Goldwater, says a direct link between Soros and the caravan financing of immigrants.
   

The tweet linked to this item can not be found on Twitter or through its API because the account has been suspended and deleted. This tweet came from a person with the name "Courtney T" screen, tweeting from the pseudonym @IWillRedPillU, and this pseudonym referring to a whole new world of MAGA political propaganda. The name on the editorial? Courtney Tubb.

Dobbs picks up the thread quickly. Sure Lou Dobbs tonight On April 3, Republican congresswoman Martha McSally praised the slow pace of Trump's border wall funding. Dobbs asked:

What about people without borders [Pueblos sin Fronteras]? What about all NGOs, non-profit organizations, many of which have been funded by George Soros and other left-wing groups who are trying to radicalize and move them – and, from Elsewhere, what about the administration of President Obama, who has been encouraging for eight years? Central Americans coming here?

Since the end of this caravan in April (150 migrants have sought asylum at the US border and the Ministry of Justice has laid criminal charges against 11 people), the conspiracy theory seems to have fallen prey to conservatives . Almost immediately after Reuters report of 13 October on the caravan of migrants approaching the US border, right-wing media outlets like Fox News have seen their mentions on Twitter flooded with answers blaming Soros in an article. relying on the Reuters report. Although Soros is not mentioned anywhere in Fox's history, users who responded to the tweet from the point of sale linking the story immediately blamed the Jewish billionaire. "Another movement of Soros, "Has written a user on several. "Presented by Soros-ClintonReplied another.

The rumor has snowballed from comments, replies and shares broadcast by eminent personalities from the right. Television news channels and programs now regularly cover this story, which originated in a Twitter response from a pseudonymous account.

And, of course, succinct explanations of conspiracy theory are roughly glued to important social media channels, such as active Facebook political groups:

More recently, on October 23, Dobbs himself doubled:

#LDTPollDo you think that the radical left is working with Central American and South American socialists and leftists to organize and support the migrant caravan?

– Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) October 23, 2018

The next day, Cesar Altieri Sayoc was arrested by Florida authorities while he was suspected of having trapped the bombs sent to Soros and other people. He was linked to two Twitter accounts. The last tweet of the first account, @ hardrock2016, was a meme about Soros. Including his second account with the pseudonym @hardrockintlet, the text in the tweets and contained in the images, Sayoc's Twitter accounts contained 406 mentions of Soros:

Today, in October, just days before the midterm elections, the caravan continues. His discussion points, keywords, are reinforced in social media postings, link sharing, comments, online forums and TV programs.

It is spreading through misinformationas shown in the tweet of October 25th below:

It is say again in snark by media personalities and influencers:

It is demystified by the right media with quotes from the vice president.

Legitimization of the narrative occurs by commanding a critical mass of attention; it is reinforced in headlines for clicks and fact checking by repetition of keywords. This is without platform …rumors sin fronteras.

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Jonathan Albright Jonathan Albright is director of the Tow Digital Forensics initiative at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University. He is a professor, researcher and journalist specializing in news, journalism and #hashtags.