With any crisis comes a wave of hoaxes and misinformation, especially since social media has made false claims so easy to circulate without really reading beyond the headline. However, some fake headlines are at least being used for a good cause.
More specifically, several Twitter threads featuring fake celebrity gossip have emerged since the killing of George Floyd in police custody, and the subsequent protests that have broken out across America and the world as a whole, aiming to direct aid to those that need it most at this time.
A thread promising to reveal collaborators for Rihanna’s much-anticipated upcoming album, for example, instead directs users to Black Lives Matter resources, as well as petitions to bring justice to black people unjustly killed by police, including Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot in her own home.
Others use Taylor Swift, Jay-Z and Beyoncé (whose fake breakup story has previously been used to encourage people to vote), and a collaboration between Supreme and Louis Vuitton as clickbait to direct users toward anti-racism resources, bail funds for protesters, and memorial funds for victims’ families.
View some of the threads below. YouTube has also recently been used to raise funds for various anti-racism and Black Lives Matter organisations, via advertising on a video that you can keep running on mute in your browser, making it a good option if money is tight.
Read how to spot other forms of misinformation amid Black Lives Matter protests in Dazed’s guide.