YouTube removes right-wing conspiracy video claiming Parkland student is an actor

  • 23/02/2018

A video that briefly became YouTube's no 1 trending video - suggesting that one of the high-school students who survived last week's mass shooting in Florida was an actor hired by gun-control advocates - has been removed.

"This video has been removed for violating YouTube's policy on harassment and bullying," a message says at the link where the video had been posted.

Last week's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, left 17 dead.

In recent days, fringe right-wing conspiracy theorists have been putting forward the notion that David Hogg, one of the students at the school who has been speaking out for gun control, is an actor.

In a statement, a YouTube spokesperson said, "This video should never have appeared in Trending ... As soon as we became aware of the video, we removed it from Trending and from YouTube for violating our policies. We are working to improve our systems moving forward."

The move comes the same day Twitter launched a new crackdown on bots and spam accounts, particularly those linked to spreading fake news and Russian propaganda.

Reuters / Newshub.