The dump of millions of documents has fueled a new wave of speculation, A.I.-generated hoaxes and foreign disinformation.
The release of an enormous cache of files about the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein might have been expected to quell conspiracy theories about his crimes and the government’s knowledge of them. Instead, it is spawning a generation of new ones.
Conspiracy theorists, foreign influence operatives and trolls armed with artificial intelligence are seizing on the millions of haphazardly redacted materials, released last month, to cobble together new, speculative stories.
One debunked claim, concocted using emails and receipts, suggested that Mr. Epstein was alive and playing video games in Israel. (He died by what the authorities said was suicide in 2019.)
A series of social media posts that emanated from China tried to connect the Dalai Lama with Mr. Epstein, based on emails in which Mr. Epstein discussed attempts to set up dinner with the exiled Buddhist leader. In a statement, the Dalai Lama’s office said it was “unequivocally” untrue that the two had ever met or agreed to interact.
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Usually, conspiracy theories feed on an absence of information, not a glut. But the Justice Department’s release of more than three million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images has done little to smother baseless speculation or fabrication.
Well duh… it’s still the absenses. It’s just the glut is highlighting what’s intentionally removed.
If I’m reporting a robbery of my convenience store. if I said I had no security camera footage of the event… that’s a little weird.
If I report a robbery, and I do have security footage, but there’s a mysterious black bar over the robbers face… you might think it’s an inside job.