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A devastating school shooting took the lives of 15 students at a high school in Connecticut and injured countless others. The attack has been widely reported by various news outlets and thrust into the national spotlight.
[[next->start2]]In the aftermath of the shooting, gun safety advocates, including many students who survived the attack, have come forward to demand stricter gun safety regulations, such as the banning of assault rifles and more rigorous background checks before sales.
[[next->start3]]In the midst of this national conversation on gun violence, a conspiracy group has emerged claiming the entire attack was staged, no actual killings occurred, and the survivors are merely paid actors.
This theory is spearheaded by an anonymous Twitter account claiming to have access to secure government documents verifying all of this information. According to this account, gun safety advocates in the Democratic Party orchestrated the entire attack in order to advance gun regulation legislation.
[[next->chooseyourfighter]]Select the group number you've been assigned to find out your role.
[[One->theorist]]
[[Two->parent]]
[[Three->twitter]]
[[Four->theorist]]
[[Five->parent]]
[[Six->twitter]]You are one of the theorists who believes that this attack was staged. You regularly engage in discussions about the attack on Twitter, espousing your belief that gun control advocates concocted the entire story are attempting to infringe upon your Second Amendment rights.
In this following activity, your objective is to protect your right to share your beliefs on the Internet.
[[Okay]]You are a parent of one of the children killed in the attack. This experience is devastating for you. You aren't particularly caught up in the gun control discussion at the moment; you're simply taking the time to grieve.
In the following activity, your objective is to protect your family's privacy and emotional wellbeing so that you can mourn in peace.
[[Okay]]You are a high-level Twitter executive. You're on the legal team and your focus is on protecting Twitter from lawsuits. You're relatively neutral in the gun control debate, and are more concerned with how your platform may be held liable for the activities of its users.
In the following activity, your objective is to balance the platform's goals of free and open discourse with your attempt to protect your company from legal action.
[[Okay]]During the following activity, the story involving the conspiracy will unfold. After each story section, you'll be asked whether or not you support an action Twitter may take during the debate. Base your choice on your role's objectives, not your own opinion. Feel free to discuss your choices with your group to reach a consensus.
[[Start]]In the small Connecticut town, families are holding funerals for the students lost during the attack.
Word of these funerals reaches Twitter and the conspiracy theorists believe it's all simply an attempt for gun control advocates to sway public opinion in their favor. They believe no one actually died during the attack, and the funerals are merely a sham.
A group of theorists organize via Twitter and picket the funerals, hoping to reveal what they believe to be the truth to the general public. They cause quite a stir at the funerals, but are quickly subdued by law enforcement. No arrests are made.
[[next->choice1]]Choice 1
Do you support banning the primary account responsible for disseminating the the conspiracies?
[[Yes|story3][$points += 1]]
[[No|story3][$points -= 1]]The gun control advocates lobby Congress and get legislation drafted to restrict the sale of assault rifles. It is currently pending a vote. The advocates consider it to be a substantial victory.
This proposed legislation bolsters the conspiracy theorists' beliefs. To them, it is no coincidence that this shooting resulted in the proposed law. The fake attack has achieved its goal.
News of this legislation convinces more Twitter users of the conspiracy. While they didn't initially believe the claims, they agree that this legislation following the attacks isn't coincidental. The conspiracy begins circulating even more widely, gaining believers at an almost exponential rate.
[[next->choice2]]Do you support expanding Twitter's hate speech and harassement policies to encompass spreading fraudulent information?
[[Yes|story2][$points += 1]]
[[No|story2][$points -=1]]Some Twitter users have taken to harassing the parents and friends of the deceased online. These accounts are usually reported and shut down relatively quickly. However, the loved ones of the deceased allege that the simple act of sharing the conspiracy, even without attacking them directly, is damaging, as it sows public disbelief in their loss.
As a result, a group of parents are bringing a lawsuit to Twitter for the emotional harm done by the platform. Twitter feels confident that it can handle the lawsuit, but it certainly comes with a degree of bad press.
[[next->choice3]]Do you support Twitter implementing a new policy that shuts down accounts of people spreading false information if they prouport it to be true?
[[Yes|pointtotals][$points += 1]]
[[No|pointtotals][$points -=1]]
Your opinions were heard by Twitter, and they implemented stricter policies for spreading false information on the platform, particularly if the information results in emotional or physical harm to others.
As a result, the conspiracy largely disappeared from the platform, although dedicated believers still discuss it on online forums. The friends and family of the students lost in the attack are very grateful not to be subjected to doubt and disbelief anymore.
However, this policy has some unintended consequences. Journalists tweeting about government-sanctioned human rights violations in Myanmar have their accounts shut down, as their opponents claims these stories, too, are "unverified." While conspiracy theories find it harder to proliferate on Twitter, so do some legitimate stories.Your opinions were heard by Twitter. No changes were made to the existing policies and the conspiracy theory continued to proliferate on the platform. It eventually gained enough traction to sway public opinion even among non-believers, and Congress voted against the assault rifle legislation.
Twitter is still home to fringe and radical groups, but many argue that the policy's inclination towards free speech enables more political mobilization and engagement.<<set $points to 0>><<if $points gt 0>>
\[[Results->ending1]]\
<<elseif $points lt 0>>
\[[Results->ending2]]\
<<else>>
\You have zero points\
<</if>>