While You Were Offline: The Internet Is Here for the Parkland Shooting Survivors

March 20, 2019 Off By EveAim

Last week, KFC ran out of chicken in the UK and Ireland. No, really. Also, some Instant Pot cookers are overheating and melting. But considering this all happened in the same week as former Donald Trump campaign aide Rick Gates decided to plead guilty and cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, those items definitely fall on the Less Important end of the news spectrum. But what fell in the middle? Was there anything more newsworthy than Gates' plea? Read on to see what the internet found most worthy of conversation over the last few days.

The Kids Are Alright

What Happened: It turns out, the high school students who survived the tragic shooting in Parkland, Florida might have what it takes to create change in the US.

What Really Happened: In the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School earlier this month, the unexpected happened: The students started demanding change for once, and social media was here for it.

And when they started organizing even more—

—it continued to go down well.

A profile of the students as they planned their movement provoked another round of admiration.

But when state lawmakers rejected an assault weapons bill, one man decided to take it upon himself to stand against the students.

In response, the internet united in disgust at D’Souza.

On the plus side, perhaps D’Souza did do one thing: He proved that people can come together around some issues, after all.

The Takeaway: Who knew that one pundit could bring so much goodwill to the people?

President Trump's Cheat Sheet

What Happened: The President of the United States hasn’t realized what every good student already knows: You’re supposed to keep your cheat sheet secret.

What Really Happened: It was the photo that said it all. An Associated Press photographer captured the notes President Trump during a meeting with parents and students affected by gun violence, and… Well, look for yourself.

Of course, the note caught the attention of the news media, and of everyone on social media, as well.

Perhaps most amazingly, that Number Five note? He didn’t even use it.

The Takeaway: Well, at least the note didn’t hurt those who attended the meeting, nor make them feel patronized in any way.

Marco Rubio Gets 'Dunked On'

What Happened: As CNN took the gun-control debate to primetime, things got more heated, and more people got involved. Unexpectedly.

What Really Happened: The continuing post-shooting discussion arguably came to a head on Wednesday night at a town hall meeting in Florida, organized by CNN. Lasting almost two hours, anchor Jake Tapper led a discussion between US senators from Florida Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson, Rep. Ted Deutch, local Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, National Rifle Association spokesperson Dana Loesch, and people in the community affected by the Parkland shooting. It was compelling viewing.

Oh, and for those wondering about some notable absences from the whole thing…

Those who did participate seemed to have come away from the experience positively—

—and the town hall was, for the most part, well-received by those who were watching.

How'd it all end? Well…

The Takeaway: Perhaps the real culmination of the CNN town hall didn't come until a couple days later, far off the debate floor. On Friday, Fox News host Laura Ingraham called out Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School junior Sarah Chadwick for how she spoke to adults when she tweeted "We should change the names of AR-15s to 'Marco Rubio' because they are so easy to buy." Chadwick responded in kind.

The Great Twitter Purge of 2018. Maybe

What Happened: Twitter started culling suspicious accounts last week, and some people were really not ready.

What Really Happened: Remember when Twitter admitted that it has been used to interfere in the 2016 elections and promised to try and do better in the future? This week, it carried through on part of that promise, by removing a number of accounts it suspected of being bots and/or propagandists.

That kind of freaked some people out.

OK, but was it a purge of conservatives, or simply a purge of bots and suspicious accounts, and the conservatives didn't understand that their followers were possible phonies? Certainly, the media was supporting the latter narrative, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t those on Twitter willing to, uh, “support” those affected by the clean-up.

Some people got it, at least.

The Takeaway: But won’t someone think of the poor bots whose voices were silenced during this whole sordid moment?

Bernie Burns

What Happened: Turns out, blaming the woman isn’t a good idea for anyone.

What Really Happened: As last week’s indictment against 13 Russians made clear, the disinformation campaign around the 2016 election went beyond a simple “Pro-Trump, Anti-Clinton” narrative. Indeed, both Jill Stein and Senator Bernie Sanders received help from the Russian actors, according to the indictment. It was a topic Sanders stayed impressively silent on for days after the indictments were issued, despite commenting on the indictments more broadly. Midweek, Sanders went on local public radio and made many wish he’d continued to stay quiet on the subject.

Yes, somehow Russians promoting Sanders in an attempt to attack the Clinton campaign was … the fault of the Clinton campaign? Twitter was, understandably, confused.

As the media started picking up the story, Sanders moderated his response and tried to pivot.

As it turns out, Sanders has a new book coming soon; perhaps he can address the subject in more detail and nuance there.

The Takeaway: One of the stranger things about the whole Russian bot thing is that, if all of the accusations are to be believed, they were everywhere.