The Alliance for Securing Democracy alleged that Russia-linked accounts on Twitter and other platforms used the shooting's aftermath to inflame tensions and divide Americans by posting loaded comments that oppose gun control. Other Russia-linked accounts labeled the shooting a false flag operation that the U.S. government would exploit to seize guns from citizens. Hundreds of Russian bots were also suspected of coming to the defense of Laura Ingraham on Twitter following the boycott of her show, The Ingraham Angle, that resulted from her public ridicule of Hogg. The conspiracy theories about survivors like Hogg and González were named PolitiFact's 2018 Lie of the Year.
