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Hundreds of Twitter accounts have been suspended after spreading false information about authorities blocking access to mobile communications during the protests over the death of George Floyd.
Another account, posing as an antifa activist - a collective of militant anti-fascist protesters - was actually operated by a white nationalist seeking to agitate against the group, Twitter said.
Due to its near real-time feed of information, Twitter has become one of the most popular social media platforms among protest movements around the world.
Total chaos outside White House
As witnessed by Sky News US correspondent Cordelia Lynch,
a peaceful protest was attacked
by authorities on Monday in order to clear the way for President Donald Trump to cross the street from the White House for a photo opportunity outside a church.
At the same time as this violence a #DCblackout hashtag, started by an account with just three followers according to The Washington Post, quickly exploded in popularity.
Image:Police officers fired tear gas next to St John's Church
The hashtag was used to promote false claims that authorities in DC were somehow preventing the protesters from using their smartphones to communicate with each other.
Twitter removed the hashtag - which was being noticed worldwide - from the "trending topics" section due to what it described as "co-ordinated attempts to disrupt the public conversation" around the protests.
Hundreds of "spammy accounts" were being used to make the hashtag seem like an authentically popular topic of discussion, according to Twitter, which is investigating the origin of the accounts.
The hashtag was used alongside images of a major fire near the Washington Monument. The image had actually been taken from the television show Designated Survivor.
Image:Protesters hold signs near the White House
Another newly created account posing as an antifa activist tweeted a single message featuring a brown raised first emoji and suggested the activists "move into the residential areas... the white hoods... and we take what's ours".
Twitter told NBC News that this account was inauthentic and actually linked to white nationalist organisation Identity Evropa, which had previously created similar agitating accounts.
Trump threatens to send in army to end unrest
During a photo-op with the Bible, which didn't include the US president reading any passages from it, Mr Trump
vowed to deploy the military
unless states halted the violent protests.
"First, we are ending the riots and lawlessness that has spread throughout our country. We will end it now.
"Today I have recommended to every governor to deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets.
"If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them."
