crisis actor

crisis actor

1. Someone who portrays a victim in a training drill for emergency personnel, such as firefighters and EMTs. I volunteered to be a crisis actor at my local hospital's disaster drill.
2. conspiracy theory Someone who impersonates a victim of a tragic incident, typically a mass shooting, that has been staged. The concept originated with conspiracy theorists who claim that such actors are employed by governments or secret organizations attempting to stage such incidents to gain support for a particular agenda. The term gained widespread attention when some survivors of the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, were claimed to be crisis actors by conspiracy theorists in the aftermath of the shooting. Can you believe that some people think the Parkland kids were crisis actors paid to be there to further the liberal agenda on gun control? How sick is that?
See also: actor, crisis
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • worm information
  • drill bit
  • portray
  • portray (someone or something) as (something)
  • portray as
  • blanket drill
  • fall prey to
  • fall prey to something
  • be prey to (someone or something)
  • be/fall prey to something
References in periodicals archive
By Sunday, Robbie Parker, whose 6-year-old daughter, Emilie, was killed in the attack, knew there were videos accusing him of being a crisis actor, because people were posting them on a social media page that friends created as a memorial to Emilie.
Now, the parents of Newtown are fighting back against hoaxers
With credibility at issue in an era of "false flag" and "crisis actor" allegations, should outlets really omit the crucial "who" from the four Ws?
Studying Journalism In an Age of News Fatigue
A FEW DAYS after the Parkland high school massacre, an aide to a Florida state legislator lost his job for claiming that two survivors were "not students here but actors that travel to various crisis [sic] when they happen." Such "crisis actor" rumors, which have spread after several recent public tragedies, are a reminder that people are capable of believing bizarre stories that are supported by only the thinnest alleged evidence.
WHEN SOCIAL MEDIA DEBUNK CONSPIRACY THEORIES
The teenage Cuban-American has been vilified as a 'skinhead lesbian' and a 'crisis actor' in a staged mass shooting.
Faces of the news
When controlled by the context of events and by crisis attributes, it was found that ethnic-NSAs gain greater influence on crisis dynamics and termination when these conditions best fit their power traits and skills, namely, in the multi-centric order of the post-Cold War period, in crises that involve a few or even a single crisis actor, and in durable confrontations.
Powerful actors make a difference: theorizing power attributes of nonstate actors
Facebook gave a few different examples of posts that would get removed, like photos claiming the same "crisis actor" appeared at several different tragic events.
Facebook To Fact-Check Photos, Videos
In the aftermath of the Parkland school shooting last February, a conspiracy theory claiming that a teenage survivor of the school shooting was a so-called "crisis actor" was the top trending item on YouTube.
YouTube is changing its algorithms to stop recommending conspiracies
"So Called 'Student,' But actually a CRISIS ACTOR, David Hogg, was on camera months ago, pretending to be a high school student in California," the user wrote.
Conspiracy theories about shooting survivors go mainstream
A prominent conspiracy theory video claiming one of the victims of the mass shooting was a crisis actor was removed by YouTube.
YouTube Plans To Use Wikipedia To Fight Conspiracy Videos
"I've always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here, too." While speaking on camera, Curry avoided eye contact with the reporter, prompting a Twitter user to claim Curry was reading a prepared script and another tweet labeled her a "crisis actor." Neither claim has been substantiated.
Fake news floods social media after school shooting
The company removed a conspiracy theory video claiming one of the victims of the mass shooting was a crisis actor and has delivered strikes to a number channels-including (http://thehill.com/homenews/media/375806-infowars-one-strike-away-from-youtube-ban) Alex Jones and InfoWars -for spreading misinformation about the shooting.
Apple, Amazon and YouTube Pressured To Ditch NRA As Protests Turn To Tech
She was not, however, what they called her: a "crisis actor."
People think she's a Parkland "crisis actor." It's terrifying
Hogg has faced intense criticism from right-wing conservatives and gun advocates who have falsely called him a crisis actor after the Valentine's Day shooting in Parkland that killed 17.
More advertisers drop Fox's Ingraham
Egged on by rabid conspiracy theorists like one Alex Jones (who has since been 'deplatformed' from YouTube and Twitter) this lot started saying that the bereaved were 'crisis actors' who were putting on a show.
Media Watch: Who are you going to believe? Me or your lying eyes?
The idea that tragic events are created by "crisis actors" employed by the government has become the default explanation for many events today, from 9/11 to mass shootings.
How moon landing conspiracy theories began and why they persist today -- Professor Peter Knight