In addition to being an outlet for connecting with friends or sharing your latest vacation photos, social media can be a conduit for misinformation.
Yes, we realize that you already are aware of that. At times, the typical Facebook feed can be about as reliable as the old Weekly World News, minus the stories about “Bat Boy” — usually. But some pieces of misinformation found on social media are a little more disconcerting than others.
Such has been the case recently in Clark County. On Sept. 4, numerous social media posts erroneously warned of an active shooter in Vancouver. According to The Columbian, “hundreds of commenters debated whether it was a backfiring truck or actual shots fired.” One post said: “That was no backfire. They went right past my house.”
Dispatchers at the Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency were “inundated” with phone calls reporting shots fired from a moving vehicle. Three men in a white pickup truck were eventually detained at the intersection of Northeast Minnehaha Street and Northeast St. Johns Road. Police now say there is no evidence that shots were fired, and one of the detained men told The Columbian that no guns were in the vehicle.
In another incident, on Aug. 21, Vancouver police pursued a driver into Camas, where he abandoned the vehicle and ran through neighborhoods. The suspect eluded capture, but the episode led to numerous inaccurate social media posts from local residents. Camas police posted while the search was ongoing: “Reports on social media of an active shooter are not accurate. (The Camas Police Department) is assisting Vancouver Police on an ongoing case, but there is no public danger.”
Given the prevalence of mass shootings in this country (the Gun Violence Archive reports that there have been 310 this year), it is understandable that people are on edge. It also is understandable that they would want to warn friends, neighbors and family members if there is a dangerous situation in the area.
But using social media to send out reports of a shooter without confirmation from police is irresponsible and only makes the job of law enforcement officers more difficult. If officers need to spend time reassuring the public and correcting misinformation, it exacerbates an already tense situation. Spreading inaccurate information also can be dangerous, creating the possibility of a good guy with a gun being mistaken for the bad guy.
This is not unique to Clark County. Law enforcement agencies throughout the country have had to deal with erroneous reports of active shooters, many of them more malicious than what appears to be well-intentioned efforts here. Camas Police Sgt. Scot Boyles said: “If there’s misinformation about an active shooter, people can, kind of, act in an urgent manner. We’re trying to nip that in the bud. That’s why we try to (catch suspects) as quickly and safely as we can. But it’s not always accurate information coming to our dispatch, and I can’t imagine social media is more accurate than that.”
Some misinformation shared on social media can be relatively harmless, such as “proof” that Oprah Winfrey is an extraterrestrial. Other falsehoods can cause long-term harm, such as claims that vaccines cause autism. But spreading unconfirmed reports about active shooters can recklessly create an immediate danger.
Without confirmation from authorities, it’s probably best to limit social media posts to shoutouts at friends or vacation photos. Or, you know, the occasional Bat Boy sighting.
