Week 2

A piece of false news that spread like wildfire was the collapsing of Bronny James, and that

there was a correlation between his health and the COVID vaccine. Elon Musk publicly

suggested that “the COVID vaccine may have caused Bronny James’ cardiac arrest” (Cavallier).

This highlights Caroline Jack’s breakdown of how the spread of disinformation (whether fully

intentional or not) can cause propaganda. The more that people are interested in this

controversial statement from a known person will drive a large audience to their site, and

ultimately, derive money. Additionally, Kuo and Marwick speak on the usage of disinformation

from media sources to serve the right-wing political agenda. It is known that the Republican

party has pushed the idea that the COVID vaccine has been causing immense harm to those

who receive it. Consequently, an event like Bronny James’ collapsing is the perfect fuel for their

fire.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12336279/Elon-Musk-sparks-fury-conspiracy-theory-vaccine-caused-Bronny-James-cardiac-arrest-training-USC.html

In June, there were many conspiracy theories floating around about the sunken submarine on

all platforms, but TikTok was absolutely flooded. Many creators were spreading misinformation

from what they believed to be true, despite not having any credible evidence or facts. Creator

@RealKiya on TikTok explains that the disappearance of the submarine was an intentional

sacrifice to the Earth to stop the wildfires that happened in close proximity to the same location.

Kuo and Marwick touch on the importance of “‘fact checking’ or ‘media literacy’ which places

responsibility on individuals to become informed media consumers” in their article Critical

disinformation studies: History, power, and politics. What seems like a simple solution can be

wiped away with the power of one convincing misinformed creator.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT82YDj6N/