Why didn't the Zárate Brazo Largo bridge in Argentina collapse like the one in Baltimore did? 3:12

(CNN) -- 

Even before most Americans woke up Tuesday morning to the news of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, wild conspiracy theories about what had "really" happened were running rampant on the Internet. .

Claims ranged from a cyberattack or a ship captain affected by the side effects of Covid-19 vaccines as being responsible for the accident, to statements that Israel, or even the Obamas, had something to do with the bridge collapse.

All of these claims are totally unfounded. Officials investigating the crash said from the beginning that there was no indication it was a deliberate act.

But that didn't stop conspiracy theories from spreading quickly across the internet, generating tens of millions of views on social media, even as dive teams conducted search and rescue operations. In a few hours, an entire alternative reality, devoid of facts, had been created around the collapse of the bridge.

It is a stark reminder of the erosion of Americans' trust in major institutions, especially the government and the media, and of the perverse online incentive structures that reward the sharing of disinformation.

• Why didn't the Zárate Brazo Largo bridge in Argentina collapse like the Francis Scott Key did in Baltimore?

Cataclysmic events that capture attention have always provoked an avalanche of alternative theories that question or contradict the facts or the widely accepted version of events.

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What makes this moment in American history different is the ability of notorious disinformation peddlers to immediately flood the area with factually false information, thanks in part to the lack of robust fact-checking operations at social media companies like Facebook and X, formerly Twitter.

Millions of Americans likely woke up to false claims about the bridge collapse Tuesday morning before they even knew the facts.

"In many ways, the Baltimore bridge conspiracies are an example of how election conspiracies will emerge on social media before November," says Ben Decker, CEO of Memetica, a company that tracks misinformation on the internet.

The usual suspects

Shortly after 7 a.m. Miami time on Tuesday, less than six hours after the bridge collapse, Andrew Tate, an online provocateur with more than 9 million followers on X, posted without offering a shred of evidence, that the ship had been "cyber-attacked" and deliberately directed toward the bridge.

"US foreign agents attack digital infrastructures," he added.

Tate, known for his misogynistic messages, is awaiting trial in Romania accused of human trafficking and rape. After that trial he is expected to be extradited to the United Kingdom to face sex offense charges. He denies all charges.

As of Wednesday, Tate's tweet had been viewed more than 18.5 million times on X, according to the company's own data.

Under the direction of Elon Musk, X has promoted the notes as a method for the community to verify facts for themselves. The note that appeared under Tate's tweet for part of Tuesday coyly described his statement as "speculation." On Wednesday morning, the story was updated to state that Tate's post was "misleading." On Wednesday night, the note said in part that "readers should be aware that this is a personal opinion presented as fact."

In any case, Tate's post helped set the tone for the day's alternate reality.

• Victims of Baltimore bridge collapse include citizens of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, authorities say

Two hours after Tate's post, the promoter of conspiracy theories surrounding the Sandy Hook school shooting, Alex Jones, published the video of the bridge collapse and commented: "It seems deliberate to me. A cyberattack is probable. The Third World War has already begun."

Jones and other doomsayers have been trying for years to convince their audiences that the world is on the brink of catastrophe and that we must prepare. Part of that preparation involves purchasing thousands of dollars worth of freeze-dried food and survival kits, which, of course, Jones sells.

"A little decency and respect"

A U.S. Coast Guard ship sails near the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the freighter Dali crashed into it, causing it to collapse, in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 27. (Photo: Mike Segar/Reuters).

On Wednesday, the chief of the Maryland State Police announced that dive teams had recovered the bodies of two people in the river. At least four other people are missing and presumed dead, the Coast Guard said.

The mayor of Baltimore asked people for "a little decency and respect" when talking online about the fatal bridge collapse.

"Don't spread misinformation. Don't play bridge engineers on the internet or in the media. Remember that these are family members of people who have lost their lives simply trying to improve traffic for the rest of us," the mayor declared. of Baltimore, Brandon Scott.

By then, the tragedy had already become an instrument for political positions.

• "The bridge fell": this was the audio between police officers in Baltimore.

Some right-wing social media users suggested that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies were related to the bridge collapse, arguing that more qualified people had been turned away for jobs in compliance with diversity and inclusion mandates. inclusion, and that this had in some way contributed to or caused the accident.

There is no evidence to support this claim, but it is a topic of conversation that generates many likes and shares. DEI programs, which promote the inclusion of people from historically underrepresented or discriminated against groups, have become the latest front in the American culture war, with red states like Florida and Texas signing bills restricting these initiatives.

Politics is everything

The most notable thing about the speed and breadth with which conspiracy theories spread about breaking news is how normal all of this is right now. The creation of a daily alternative reality is already a well-oiled machine.

On any given day, there is a solid contingent of online influencers, faux intellectuals, and self-proclaimed "truth tellers" who will tell you that anything they tell you in the news is a lie, whether it's who really won the 2020 election (Biden did) or whether Taylor Swift has the ability to rig the Super Bowl to help President Joe Biden (she doesn't).

Some of this misinformation is motivated by political or ideological reasons, some by financial reasons, and some by a mix of both. Under Musk, Platform X has incentivized creators to make viral posts by offering them a share of the company's advertising revenue. Musk claims that X does not pay creators whose posts have been corrected by community notes, but many of the platform's posts fall into a gray area.

There are also other ways to make money, such as selling doomsday survival kits.

Although many Americans laugh or shrug their shoulders when they hear some of these conspiracy theories, the daily barrage of false claims shapes the worldview of millions of other Americans.

A quarter of all Americans falsely believe that the FBI, and not Trump supporters, instigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. One-third of Republicans believe in the Taylor Swift-Super Bowl conspiracy theory.

'Jewish space lasers'

As the news broke on Tuesday, the conspiracy theories continued.

Some falsely claimed that Israel was responsible. Others, strangely but darkly, suggested that the Obamas might be responsible because they produced a Netflix movie in which a cyberattack runs an oil tanker aground. "Draw your own conclusions," a person with nearly 700,000 followers on X posted Tuesday morning.

David Simon, creator of the Max series "The Wire" and famed Baltimore native, began fact-checking some of the more ridiculous false claims circulating on X on Tuesday.

When an X user suggested that the Covid-19 vaccine was to blame for the collision because the ship's captain had fainted after getting vaccinated, Simon countered with facts.

"The captain of the ship did not collapse, but rather a blackout that caused the collision," Simon noted, before dryly and sarcastically suggesting that the X user he was replying to might believe the blackout was caused by " Jewish space lasers.

Before becoming a member of Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene was the protagonist of an infamous conspiracy theory that Jewish space lasers may have been the cause of the deadly California wildfires.

On Tuesday, the Georgia Republican posted a message on Greene has not commented on the cause of the bridge collapse.

Jewish space lasers were not responsible for the forest fires, nor the collapse of the Baltimore bridge. But for many Americans, perhaps even some in the halls of Congress, it may not seem so far-fetched.

BaltimoreUnited States ElectionsBaltimore BridgeConspiracy theories