Facebook and Google Struggle to Squelch ‘Crisis Actor’ Posts<br />The difficulty of dealing with inappropriate online content stands out with the Parkland shooting because the tech companies have effectively committed to removing any accusations<br />that the Parkland survivors were actors, a step they did not take after other recent mass shootings, such as last October’s massacre in Las Vegas.<br />At every turn, trolls, conspiracy theorists and others have proved to be more adept at taking advantage of exactly what the<br />sites were created to do — encourage people to post almost anything they want — than the companies are at catching them.<br />In the past, the companies typically addressed specific types of content only when it<br />was illegal — posts from terrorist organizations, for example — Mr. Morgan said.<br />Those who post conspiracy theories also tend to quickly repost or engage with similar posts from other accounts, creating a sort of viral effect<br />that can cause the sites’ algorithms to promote the content as a trending topic or a recommended video, said David Carroll, a professor at the New School who studies tech platforms.<br />One clip that had drawn more than 77,000 views by Friday described the shooting survivors as “disaster performers” instead of “crisis actors.”<br />Other videos that were not about the Parkland survivors but that called the entire shooting into question also stayed online.
