USA Today, April 2023
The claim: post implies school shootings are linked to violent video games
A March 29 Facebook post (direct link, archived link) shows a cartoon image of a boy playing a video game while two adults watch a news broadcast about a school massacre. “Guns cause all of this trouble!” reads a text bubble attributed to one of the adults. A text bubble attributed to the child reads, “Kill them! Kill them all!”
Some commenters linked video games to school shootings. “Your (sic) exactly right and the kids are getting younger that are playing these types of games!” reads one comment.
“They are being brainwashed and desensitized,” reads another comment. The post generated over 1,000 shares in less than a week.
