Officials Tracking DC Protest Misinformation Campaigns

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Local and federal officials are tracking misinformation campaigns online after tweets using the hashtag #DCblackout spread across Twitter early Monday morning, claiming cell phones and other devices had been blocked in order to prevent user from sharing accounts of violent police activity from protests over the weekend.

Speaking at a news conference Monday, Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham said there was no communications loss "in any way, shape or form."

"That's why I rarely take a lot of the information that I get from social media on it's face," he said.

Christopher Rodrigues, director of D.C. Homeland and Security Emergency Management Agency, said his department has been tracking disinformation campaigns on social media regarding protests in D.C.

"We have identified some and have passed that information to federal authorities, to the FBI, and to the US Department of Homeland Security and we are also passing that information to MPD so that officers not only down the road but also in the field have that information," he said. "So we are monitoring those social media avenues."

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