Jan. 6 will be remembered as one of the most horrendous attacks on the U.S. republic in recent history. But perhaps just as important as the insurrection at the Capitol is what led up to it: Over the past few years, foreign and domestic conspiracy theories and disinformation campaigns have multiplied while white supremacist and anti-government movements have built their armies online, promoting violence and deepening the country’s racial divisions. As fringe groups and conspiracy theorists such as the Proud Boys and QAnon have grown, even U.S. politicians shared and amplified disinformation online. This week, as the United States inaugurated a new president after the most secure election in U.S. history, much of the country’s capital remained behind police tape after online mobilization around disinformation carried the threat of further real-life violence.
For too long, U.S. citizens have been staring into a funhouse mirror of disinformation, half-truths, hate, and harassment that’s undermining trust in facts and democratic institutions. On Jan. 6, according to media intelligence company Zignal Labs, there were over 439,000 mentions of #VoterFraud related to the Capitol unrest across all sources, which include social media, news, blogs, video, broadcast, and forums. And as of Jan. 19, only 38 percent of Republican voters said they had trust in U.S. elections, despite the proven security of the recent election. In short, the current unrest is rooted in a blatant disregard for facts
