Saturday’s shooting at a Donald Trump rally

The first assassination attempt of a US presidential candidate in the age of social media – and the former president had barely been hit before the internet was abuzz with all sorts of unsubstantiated explanations for what had, or had not, occurred.

The moments of uncertainty created an information void that was quickly filled by speculation, misinformation and conspiracy theories.

At the same time, the social media industry has broadly retreated from efforts to clamp down on misinformation. That retrenchment left the door wide open for false and misleading claims by both Trump supporters and opponents.