Online rumors about the Madison school shooter being transgender proliferate

After a school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, false claims began spreading on social media about the shooter being transgender. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and conservative websites like Townhall speculated on the shooter’s gender identity without evidence. The shooter was eventually identified as a 15-year-old girl with no indication of being transgender. Researchers have found no evidence to suggest that transgender people are more dangerous than others, and they are more likely to be victims of crime. The spreading of baseless speculation linking crime to transgender individuals has been criticized as a distraction from addressing gun violence. The trend of connecting crimes to the transgender community has appeared after other shootings as well. Social media platforms like X have been criticized for allowing unfounded claims to spread without moderation. In this case, the shooter’s motives and gender were topics of discussion, with many accounts pushing false information. The speculation on the shooter’s gender on social media platforms like X highlights the need for better fact-checking and moderation to prevent harmful misinformation from spreading.

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