(http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43568208)

For Parkland students, high profiles bring wave of personal attacks

The attacks on survivors of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida began almost immediately. Within hours, they had been accused of being "crisis actors" - an old conspiracy theory, recycled from previous school shootings, that claims survivors are actors parachuted in to promote gun control.

In the weeks since the 14 February shooting, a group of Parkland survivors has really taken on the mantle of advocating stricter gun control, culminating in a massive march in Washington DC on Saturday and hundreds of others across the country. Their efforts have brought them a huge new public profile, and with it a wave of personal attacks.

David Hogg, 17, and Emma Gonzalez, 18, are two of the most prominent among the young activists. In the week after the attack, Hogg was forced to deny that he had been coached by his father, a former FBI agent, on what to say. This week, the right-wing blog Breitbart published a round-up of tweets falsely suggesting Mr Hogg performed a Nazi salute at the march in Washington. The prominent right wing personality Alex Jones took footage of Mr Hogg speaking at the march and dubbed it over with a speech by Hitler.

Ms González was subjected to a viral video, doctored to show her tearing up the US constitution. In fact, she was tearing up a gun target. She has also been attacked by a Republican congressman for wearing a Cuban flag patch - her father is Cuban - and by a Republican state house candidate for her appearance - a "skinhead lesbian".