Kate Starbird

@katestarbird.bsky.social

90K followers 3K following 4.3K posts

Researcher of online rumors & disinformation. Former basketball player. Prof at University of Washington, HCDE. Co-founder of the UW Center for an Informed Public. Personal account: Views may not reflect those of my employer. #RageAgainstTheBullshitMachine .. more

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Catherine Evelyn Starbird is an American computer scientist and former women's professional basketball player.

Source: Wikipedia

Communication & Media Studies 30%

Sociology 18%

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Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · Mar 27

On Feb 24, I gave a lecture at UW explaining what my team's decade-plus research on online rumors during crises reveals about the right wing "bullshit machine." Fittingly, a lightning strike impacted the original audio. Here's a fixed version w/ the full transcript: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjiG...

A Spotlight on Rumors

YouTube video by UW (University of Washington)

www.youtube.com

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 9h

Tesla stock reminds me of the old Wil-E-Coyote cartoon, where he’s run off the cliff, he’s hanging there in the air, and it’s only a matter of time before he realizes there nothing holding him up and then he plummets to the ground.

Reposted by Matthew Bunn, Kate Starbird

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 10h

The harping about 2020 was never about the past. It was and is about the future: using a lie about a "stolen election" to actually steal elections.

Trump Is Still Obsessed with Stealing Elections

The FBI’s seizure of Georgia ballots is as much about future elections as past ones.

lnk.thebulwark.com

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 18h

Very on brand for Gabbard to be pushing bogus conspiracy theories. She also promoted conspiracy theories denying chemical weapons attacks in Syria a few years ago. Only difference is now she is leading our intelligence services down the rabbit hole with her.

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 22h

I really like “conspiracy fictions” … I’m going to borrow that.

Reposted by Kate Starbird

Ira Hyman @irahyman.bsky.social · 23h

My latest blog post.

The disinformation war isn’t just about fact checking the lies and false claims. Winning an information war depends on having better narratives.

And the battle over narratives is an uneven playing field.

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ment...

A War of Narratives

A battle among competing narratives has developed in Minnesota.

www.psychologytoday.com

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 23h

“Everything looks like a conspiracy if you don’t know how anything works.”

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 23h

There’s a theory that, in a world of pervasive conspiracy theorizing, suppressing the wildest theories just allows the most plausible (the “fittest”) to circulate and take root. Maybe letting everyone see just how preposterous his allegations actually are isn’t a bad idea.

Eric Columbus @ericcolumbus.bsky.social · 1d

Trump is on a posting bender right now and has is sharing deranged tinfoil hat stuff about the 2020 election

Donald J. Trump
@realDonald Trump
x.com/thescif/status/201536038
The SCIF & @TheSCIF
•••
Maria Zack testified about the stolen 2020 Election operation connected to Obama when he diverted $400 million from the infamous pallets of cash sent to Iran, funneling through the Dubai Embassy to operatives in Italy and Merrill Lynch in Geneva, Switzerland.
In return, Italian officials at Leonardo SpA used military satellites to help hack U.S. voting machines, flipping votes from Trump to Biden using CIA-developed tools like Hammer and Scorecard. Along with numerous other methods of fraud and manipulation.
China reportedly coordinated the whole operation, providing the tech backbone and bribes to corrupt Americans. The CIA oversaw it, the FBI covered it up, all to install Biden as a puppet. This is the global election fraud cartel and the real threat against American democracy and the rest of the world.
523 ReTruths 1.28k Likes
1/28/26, 9:43 PM

Reposted by Alan Richardson

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 1d

Maybe “shitpost populism” is a better name for it?

Reposted by Janet Murray

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 1d

Participatory propaganda turned policy, Exhibit #147 and counting. Internet-powered populism.

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 1d

Haitians in Springfield, Ohio lose temporary protected status on February 3rd. There will very likely be a major ICE incursion the next day. Haitians in Springfield were the targets of Vance’s lying during the campaign.
ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/01/28/t...

'The folks are fearful.' Haitians living in Ohio may soon lose temporary protected status • Ohio Capital Journal

Thousands of Haitians living in Ohio will lose their temporary protected status next week unless a federal court blocks it.

ohiocapitaljournal.com

Reposted by Robert C. Richards, Kate Starbird, Greg Linden

Senator Mark Warner @markwarner.bsky.social · 1d

Why is Tulsi Gabbard at an FBI raid on an elections office in Fulton County?

Reposted by Rosemary A. Joyce, Kate Starbird

Eric Columbus @ericcolumbus.bsky.social · 1d

Trump is on a posting bender right now and has is sharing deranged tinfoil hat stuff about the 2020 election

Reposted by Philip Nel, Kate Starbird, Greg Linden

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 1d

Of the biggest scandals in US history just this week, I think I’d rank them:

1) Federal paramilitaries invade US city based on racist lies, murder US citizens

2) Slush fund for the president from stolen foreign resources held in Qatar

3) Whatever FBI and DNI are doing re: 2020 election in Georgia

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 1d

It’s more than that. They’re building their case for 2026.

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 1d

My wife has Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Minneapolis” on replay in the kitchen this evening… trying to send it to the top of the charts.

Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Lesley Bartlett, Kate Starbird , and 1 more Dorothy Bishop, Lesley Bartlett, Kate Starbird, David Darmofal

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 1d

'The folks are fearful.' Haitians living in Ohio may soon lose temporary protected status • Ohio Capital Journal

Thousands of Haitians living in Ohio will lose their temporary protected status next week unless a federal court blocks it.

ohiocapitaljournal.com

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 1d

In GA, they might find small problems, errors, things that don’t quite line up. They’ll suggest these are intentional, tip of the iceberg, that they’ve found evidence of some grand conspiracy. That won’t be true, but it won’t matter for those looking for evidence to justify what they already believe

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 1d

Other signals of this: Trump attacking negative polls as fraudulent. Trump’s executive order (currently blocked by a judge) to change the laws around the timing of mail in votes. Whispers about Maduro confessing to election fraud in 2020. As the polls look worse and worse, expect all this to pick up

Reposted by Daxton R. Stewart

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 1d

Pay attention to this. The purpose of these investigations is not just to manufacture evidence to support Trump’s 2020 “voter fraud” accusations, but also to set the stage for another round of efforts to suppress votes and delegitimize election results in 2026 (which the GOP is likely to lose).

Doug Bock Clark @dougbockclark.bsky.social · 1d

1/ NEW: @propublica.org has obtained a search warrant that the FBI is executing for records related to the contested 2020 election in Fulton County, Ga., which has not yet been widely shared. It’s an extraordinary document.

Link: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

1-28-26 Fulton Warrant

www.documentcloud.org

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, David R. Miller, Michael D. McDonald , and 3 more Brendan Nyhan, David R. Miller, Michael D. McDonald, Kate Starbird, Daxton R. Stewart, Aviel Roshwald

Doug Bock Clark @dougbockclark.bsky.social · 1d

1-28-26 Fulton Warrant

www.documentcloud.org

Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 1d

Since we published this, Pam Bondi's X account has started posting mugshots of Minnesotans arrested for impeding ICE/CBP. Sharing a defendant's photo publicly in this way is forbidden under DOJ rules

Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 1d

ICE and CBP are at the head of Trump's campaign to terrorize Minnesotans. But the Justice Department is not far behind.

ICE’s No. 1 Ally

The Department of Justice has rushed to shield federal agents from accountability and launched needless criminal investigations into Minnesota officials and residents.

www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Kate Starbird, Ann Bartow , and 1 more Marc Lynch, Kate Starbird, Ann Bartow, Greg Linden

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 1d

Jeff Bezos should be a hero and donate the Washington Post to a charity. Bezos would get a big charitable deduction; the rest of us would get a newspaper dedicated to the public interest. This post from Steven Waldman is from a year ago but it's still a great idea. www.cjr.org/opinion/wald...

Jeff Bezos Should Donate the Washington Post to a Charity

His conflicts of interests are insurmountable. He can take a heroic path to strengthen journalism.

www.cjr.org

Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 1d

ICE and CBP are at the head of Trump's campaign to terrorize Minnesotans. But the Justice Department is not far behind.

ICE’s No. 1 Ally

The Department of Justice has rushed to shield federal agents from accountability and launched needless criminal investigations into Minnesota officials and residents.

www.theatlantic.com

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Marco Rubio: "The oil proceeds are being deposited into an account that ultimately will become a US Treasury blocked account here in the US. We will say 'this is what this money can be spent on.' They will submit to us a budget request -- 'we want to use the money on these things.'"

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 2d

If you want to peruse the data yourself, I've made it available in an interactive viewer. It should work on Firefox. Maybe other browsers. faculty.washington.edu/kstarbi/Spot...

faculty.washington.edu

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 2d

But here's the thing. The most highly retweeted tweets from this period… ON X... EVEN AFTER DHS WAS TRYING TO SHIFT THE NARRATIVE… contained frames that were sympathetic to the victim, and blaming ICE for the “murder” or "execution" of the victim. In other words, the RW spin machine wasn’t working.

Very similar graph to the one immediately above. The red box (10-10:40am CST) now contains six highlighted tweets, among the biggest (most retweeted) in the graph. The text of those tweets is below.

@JoshEakle (1/24/2026, 10:01:57 AM CST): 🚨BREAKING

It looks like ICE just shot and killed someone else in Minneapolis.
https://t.co/dWjNk5PKRz
69023 Followers | 8973 Reposts | 44523 Likes

http://twitter.com/JoshEakle/statuses/2015092719589224802

@covie_93 (1/24/2026, 10:07:37 AM CST): WTF. Looks like ICE agents committed murder again in Minnesota today.

https://t.co/KECqDPR5d5
161171 Followers | 3138 Reposts | 11942 Likes

http://twitter.com/covie_93/statuses/2015094146004844809

@CalltoActivism (1/24/2026, 10:22:48 AM CST): 🚨ANOTHER ICE KILLING

MAJOR BREAKING: A video is circulating online of ICE agents appearing to EXECUTE a man on a Minnesota sidewalk who was resisting arrest.

We’re waiting for more facts but the video is terrifying. Viewer discretion advised:

https://t.co/Uv92GkPwS9
1194935 Followers | 5803 Reposts | 19025 Likes

http://twitter.com/CalltoActivism/statuses/2015097966239842359

@greendragonhq (1/24/2026, 10:29:59 AM CST): ICE just murdered a man.

Despite him being on the ground and ICE outnumbering him 8 to 1, they decided to shoot and kill him. https://t.co/DDMaGU9G6t
54218 Followers | 1986 Reposts | 8552 Likes

http://twitter.com/greendragonhq/statuses/2015099772651135254

@gremloe (1/24/2026, 10:31:31 AM CST): It appears from zooming in just moments before ICE/CBP shoot yet another US citizen, one agent removes the victims firearm from his waste holster.

The victim was UNARMED when he was shot multiple times.

This is a state execution. Again. https://t.co/bJKnijPq3H
5890 Followers | 11120 Reposts | 31488 Likes

http://twitter.com/gremloe/statuses/2015100158657384733

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 2d

Right wing influencers tried to run with DHS's "evidence". Here's a selection of tweets (sized by # of RTs) from RW influencers the hour after that release. They highlight that the victim was armed, and many suggest (falsely) that he was threatening officers, framing the killing as justified.

Graph with similar properties to the one above. The shape of the graph is the same. But here the tweets are sized by retweet count and the posts (circles) near the beginning of the graph (9:45-10:45am CST) are far larger than the ones that come later. In other words, the earlier posts about the event got FAR more reposts.

There’s a red box (10-10:40am CST) around a cluster of large tweets. It contains five highlighted tweets:

@EricLDaugh (1/24/2026, 10:06:29 AM CST): 🚨 BREAKING: The man shot by Border Patrol in Minneapolis was ARMED WITH A FIREARM, per @BillMelugin_

Get ready for the Fake News to make his guy who resisted arrest and armed with a firearm a DEMOCRAT HERO once again.

I STAND WITH ICE AND CBP! Keep them safe! https://t.co/NjTocUyrRx
885808 Followers | 2387 Reposts | 8374 Likes

http://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/statuses/2015093861148663825

@CollinRugg (1/24/2026, 10:07:14 AM CST): NEW: The Department of Homeland Security says the suspect who was shot by federal agents in Minneapolis was armed with a gun, according to Fox News.

Video footage shows agents struggling with the man before a shot was fired.

"The suspect was armed with a gun, which has been recovered by federal agents," @BillMelugin_ reported.
2081320 Followers | 773 Reposts | 3755 Likes

http://twitter.com/CollinRugg/statuses/2015094047724220471

@MarioNawfal (1/24/2026, 10:27:11 AM CST): 🚨🇺🇸 UPDATE: DHS SAYS MINNEAPOLIS SUSPECT WAS ARMED

DHS now says the man shot by federal agents in Minneapolis was carrying a gun, according to Fox’s Bill Melugin. Agents say the weapon was recovered at the scene.

Expect the narrative to harden fast from here.

Evidence, body cam, and timelines are about to matter a lot.

Source: @InsiderWire
[Quote of @MarioNawfal]
2878046 Followers | 126 Reposts | 581 Likes

http://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/statuses/2015099070126424109

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 2d

DHS tried to shift the narrative at 10:10am CST, asserting that the victim had been armed and including an image of a gun. You can see a burst of activity in the graph above, where the tweets are sized by follower count, but the graph in the post below is more revealing.

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 2d

Four hours after the shooting, I started analyzing tweets that mentioned the shooting, ICE or "agents", AND the video.

From the very beginning, we could see a developing “frame” that this was ANOTHER unjust killing by ICE (or in this case CBP) agents. Here are three of the first tweets in my data:

Spotlight graph of X discourse about the shooting/killing of a man by ICE agents on January 24 in Minneapolis. Graph showing X posts along time (X axis) and cumulative number of X posts shared by that time (Y axis). Post counts are estimated (by Brandwatch) and include both X posts and reposts where the text contained terms indicating the post was about the shooting AND the video during the time period. Individual posts are plotted on the graph, sized by the number of reposts that post received (during the time period). Plotted posts are limited to posts that received >1 reposts.

X axis from 8:30am to 1:30pm. The first posts, small circles, come in around 9:45am CST. The graph rises slowly. There is a burst of activity, with a cluster of large (following) accounts posting around 10:10am CST. The slope of the graph begins to increase around 11am, rising from 30,000 total posts at 11am to 100,000 total posts by 12pm. A number of extremely large following accounts (media) begin posting about the event between 12pm and 1pm.

@QuentinOcama (1/24/2026, 9:39:49 AM CST): ICE shot a man multiple times on Nicollet & 26th. Disturbing video making the rounds on social media.
3462 Followers | 9 Reposts | 30 Likes

http://twitter.com/QuentinOcama/statuses/2015087149926805945

@evale72 (1/24/2026, 9:41:01 AM CST): Not sharing the video but looks like ICE wrestled observer to the ground and then shot them
6199 Followers | 1 Reposts | 4 Likes

http://twitter.com/evale72/statuses/2015087450373169475

@intelFromBrian (1/24/2026, 9:41:19 AM CST): #BREAKING

ICE just shot and killed someone again. In Minneapolis.

5 shots. In front of Glam Doll Donuts

https://t.co/SASMlIW8ig
37952 Followers | 18980 Reposts | 72518 Likes

http://twitter.com/intelFromBrian/statuses/2015087525828653524

Reposted by Michael Evans

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 2d

Within 4 hours of ICE (actually CBP) killing Alex Pretti, the data suggested that the right wing spin machine was having trouble gaining traction, even on their home turf over on X.

Here's a Substack I wrote analyzing X data from that time. katestarbird.substack.com/p/another-mu...

Another Killing on ICE

The right wing propaganda machine can’t spin the killing of Alex Pretti

katestarbird.substack.com

Reposted by Kate Starbird

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