How the Stoneman Douglas School Shooting Evolved into a Movement

By Taylor Rea, Cydney Traylor, Bhavya Shukla and Safiya Safri

November 21, 2020

When the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting took place in Parkland, Florida, on February 18, 2020, rather than honing in specifically on the survivors and effects of the shooting, one thing the media focused heavily on was the emergence of conspiracy theories. One conspiracy theory topic that took up popularity was that of crisis actors. Claims were being made that the survivors of the shooting were paid actors, staging for stronger gun control. This sparked numerous responses from different media organizations. While platforms like Facebook were flagging and taking down posts as containing false information, important social figures have used Twitter as a means of exposing what they regard as crisis actors and reiterating the validity of conspiracy theories. This story and these responses from the media also have, on the other hand, led to the evolution of positive action that has been taken to prevent further incidents like this shooting. The March for Our Lives movement started and grew due to negative responses from the shooting, and this has been a step in the direction of using the media as a productive tool in society.

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When the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting took place in Parkland, Florida on February 18, 2020, rather than honing in specifically on the survivors and effects of the shooting, one thing the…