The Minneapolis ICE Shooting: How Right-Wing Influencers Are Rewriting Reality
Since Renee Good's death at the hands of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, a swarm of pro-Trump influencers, journalists, and content creators descended on Minneapolis, flooding social media with videos, posts, and narratives that paint protesters as lawless, demonstrations as riots, and anti-ICE activists as extremists or criminals. These right-wing voices have been incredibly effective in producing a high volume of content that reaches a wider audience, often outperforming left-leaning efforts.
According to data researchers at Magnitude Media, the right has rapidly tried to flood internet platforms with pro-ICE, Trump-friendly coverage. Their content has largely received more views than left-leaning posts and engagement from social media users. Right-wing influencers have leveraged their existing network and access to ride-along privileges with ICE agents to produce exclusive footage that fuels the narrative.
The result is a deeply skewed online discourse where left-leaning voices struggle to compete with the sheer volume of content produced by right-wing creators. Magnitude Media's tracking shows that left-leaning pages have received 29 million more engagements on posts related to immigration or ICE than right-leaning pages, and 37 million more engagements on posts directly mentioning Renee Good or Minneapolis.
The advantages enjoyed by right-wing influencers lie in their individual incentives, structural support, and access. They benefit from the administration's encouragement of ICE agents to produce content, as well as financial backing that allows them to invest in high-quality equipment, editing software, and marketing campaigns. Right-wing social media accounts have also shown brazenness and willingness to take raw footage and edit it to fit their narrative.
In contrast, left-leaning creators face significant challenges, including limited funding, lack of access to ride-along privileges with ICE agents, and an un hospitable platform environment that makes it difficult for them to monetize their content. Even prominent leftist streamers struggle to match the reach and influence of their right-wing counterparts.
The Minneapolis shooting's online reality reflects a broader imbalance in American politics and media. While witness videos, mainstream news, and liberal commentators have shaped part of the debate over ICE and Trump's domestic immigration agenda, these critical voices lack the same kind of distribution machine that those on the right have used to shape public opinion.
Until the anti-Trump coalition is able to build a similar apparatus for creating and disseminating content, debates will continue to be clouded by mess, propaganda, and disinformation. The left needs to address this imbalance by investing in its own social media infrastructure, providing resources and support to creators, and fostering a more cohesive and coordinated effort to counter the right-wing narrative machine.
Since Renee Good's death at the hands of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, a swarm of pro-Trump influencers, journalists, and content creators descended on Minneapolis, flooding social media with videos, posts, and narratives that paint protesters as lawless, demonstrations as riots, and anti-ICE activists as extremists or criminals. These right-wing voices have been incredibly effective in producing a high volume of content that reaches a wider audience, often outperforming left-leaning efforts.
According to data researchers at Magnitude Media, the right has rapidly tried to flood internet platforms with pro-ICE, Trump-friendly coverage. Their content has largely received more views than left-leaning posts and engagement from social media users. Right-wing influencers have leveraged their existing network and access to ride-along privileges with ICE agents to produce exclusive footage that fuels the narrative.
The result is a deeply skewed online discourse where left-leaning voices struggle to compete with the sheer volume of content produced by right-wing creators. Magnitude Media's tracking shows that left-leaning pages have received 29 million more engagements on posts related to immigration or ICE than right-leaning pages, and 37 million more engagements on posts directly mentioning Renee Good or Minneapolis.
The advantages enjoyed by right-wing influencers lie in their individual incentives, structural support, and access. They benefit from the administration's encouragement of ICE agents to produce content, as well as financial backing that allows them to invest in high-quality equipment, editing software, and marketing campaigns. Right-wing social media accounts have also shown brazenness and willingness to take raw footage and edit it to fit their narrative.
In contrast, left-leaning creators face significant challenges, including limited funding, lack of access to ride-along privileges with ICE agents, and an un hospitable platform environment that makes it difficult for them to monetize their content. Even prominent leftist streamers struggle to match the reach and influence of their right-wing counterparts.
The Minneapolis shooting's online reality reflects a broader imbalance in American politics and media. While witness videos, mainstream news, and liberal commentators have shaped part of the debate over ICE and Trump's domestic immigration agenda, these critical voices lack the same kind of distribution machine that those on the right have used to shape public opinion.
Until the anti-Trump coalition is able to build a similar apparatus for creating and disseminating content, debates will continue to be clouded by mess, propaganda, and disinformation. The left needs to address this imbalance by investing in its own social media infrastructure, providing resources and support to creators, and fostering a more cohesive and coordinated effort to counter the right-wing narrative machine.
and i have no idea what's going on anymore. like, some woman died because of an ice officer and now it seems like everyone is against her? 
but also there are these pro-Trump influencers saying she was a rioter or something? idk how true any of that is 
i don't know who to trust anymore. can someone please explain the whole situation to me? 
. It's like they're buying their way into our online discourse. Meanwhile, left leaning creators are struggling to make a name for themselves, and it's heartbreaking 
. I mean, Renee Good's death was a tragedy, but we need to focus on the real issue here - how we're being manipulated by powerful interests 
. We can't just sit back and let them dictate the conversation. We need to take control of our own media landscape and support creators who are trying to tell the truth 
. It's time for us to up our game and create some noise on our own terms! 
I mean, have you seen the news about Renee Good's death? It's like they're trying to rewrite history with all these pro-Trump influencers flooding social media with their own twisted narratives 
, which is just not fair.
. It's a recipe for disaster when people can spread misinformation and propaganda with impunity 
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. And don't even get me started on how hard it is to monetize content as a creator 
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. Anything less is just enabling the spread of disinformation and propaganda 
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. Meanwhile, left-leaning creators are struggling to compete, with limited funding, no access to ride-alongs, and a pretty hostile platform environment that makes it hard to monetize their content 
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but, like, it's hard when u gotta compete with all that pro-ICE content 
It's not going to be easy, but I think we need to take action if we want to have a more informed and nuanced conversation about these issues. 
because all these people are dying cuz of trump's policies & yet nobody's even talking about it properly 
we need 2 get our own social media infrastructure in place ASAP 
so we can compete w/ the right wing narrative machine 
. And what's up with all these videos of ICE officers? It's like they're trying to make us look bad or something 
. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of protesting either, but can we just have an actual conversation about the issues instead of just sharing stuff we don't even know is true 
. And btw, what's with all this talk about "rewriting reality"? Isn't that like, something out of a sci-fi movie? 
! Right wing influencers are totally dominating the conversation around Renee Good's death and ICE 
. The left needs to step up its game and create some content that can compete with these guys 
! It's not going to be easy, though... it feels like we're stuck in a never-ending loop of echo chambers 
.
. We need to support each other and amplify our voices instead of getting caught up in who's right or wrong 
. And, honestly, I'm a bit tired of seeing all these divisive hashtags 
meanwhile the left is getting destroyed online with so little effort. i mean we all know the system is rigged and these right-wing influencers are just making it worse 
. It's like they're trying to make everyone think protesters are just violent rioters instead of people fighting for their rights and Renee Good's life matters. They're using the same footage over and over again, editing it to fit their narrative and getting away with it on social media 
. It's like they have their own personal camera crew following them around everywhere 
. Meanwhile, left-leaning creators are stuck in the digital dust because we need to invest in our own social media infrastructure and support our content creators 
The data is crazy, though - 29 million more engagements for left-leaning pages vs right-wing ones. That's wild