Florida school shooting: Conspiracy theory about victims heads to the top of YouTube

One of YouTube’s most popular videos is pedalling a conspiracy theory about the deadly Parkland school shooting.

The post – currently at the top of YouTube’s “Popular Right Now” playlist – shows David Hogg, one of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students who has led the push for gun reform in the wake of the shooting at the school. It suggests that he is an “actor”.

Mr Hogg became well-known in the wake of the shooting when it emerged he had interviewed class mates while the shooting was taking place, and gave an interview where he looked into the camera and called for politicians to bring change.

The video is part of a conspiracy theory that claims Mr Hogg and the other people representing themselves as students are actually paid actors, being used by gun control advocates to push for their policies. While the video simply re-posts an old video of Mr Hogg, its description says “DAVID HOGG THE ACTOR”, making clear why it is being uploaded and shared.

The video is notable because it includes another time that Mr Hogg was part of a news story. It is a re-post of a news report about the fact that Mr Hogg had filmed a confrontation between a lifeguard and a surfer – and that the video he had uploaded had since gone viral.

Source: Yahoo News