David Hogg, a survivor from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, slammed claims he was an actor being propped up by the media following an online smear campaign to discredit the student journalist.
The 17-year-old has been one of many survivors in the public eye rallying for stricter gun laws, which is being led by students from MS Douglas High School in the wake of the shooting that left 17 people dead.
Since the shooting, a campaign to discredit the students has circulated in the media, with some accused of being paid actors travelling between the sites of mass shootings to protest for stricter gun control.
Similar theories circulated on social media during the Las Vegas shooting in October.
Hogg appeared on CNN to deny the claims.
"I'm not a crisis actor," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday.
"I'm someone who had to witness this and live through this and I continue to be having to do that...I'm not acting on anybody's behalf."
Aide fired after 'crisis actors' claims
An aide to Florida State Representative Shawn Harrison was fired on Tuesday after he falsely accused two Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students of being actors, the New York Times reported.
Harrison later tweeted that his aide had been fired, and that he was "appalled" at the comments.
"Tonight Mr. Kelly was terminated from his position as my District Secretary. I am appalled at and strongly denounce his comments about the Parkland students. I am again sorry for any pain this has caused the grieving families of this tragedy," Mr Harrison wrote on Twitter.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio defended the students and survivors claiming the accusations came from a "disgusting group".
YouTube and Facebook remove content
A video peddling the theory that Hogg was a "crisis actor" appeared to be a top trending video on YouTube on Wednesday morning.
A resurfaced CBS Los Angeles broadcast clip showed Hogg talking about an old incident involving a lifeguard on a beach in California.
However, the version featuring predominantly on YouTube suggested Hogg was a 'crisis actor', or paid by anti-gun groups to travel to scenes of shootings and promote stricter gun laws.
A YouTube spokesperson told Time Magazine the video should never have appeared in the trending section.
"Because the video contained footage from an authoritative news source, our system misclassified it. As soon as we became aware of the video, we removed it from Trending and from YouTube for violating our policies," the YouTube spokesperson said.
"We are working to improve our systems moving forward."
Facebook also condemned the "abhorrent" content after unsubstantiated news stories and videos were featured when typing in David Hogg. Facebook was removing the content.
"Hoax images that attack the victims of last week’s tragedy in Florida are abhorrent," a Facebook spokesperson told CNET.
Hogg became one of the voices rallying for stricter gun control after he took out his phone and started filming the Florida school shooting that left 17 people dead.
He wanted to make sure US lawmakers and the public would be able to see the terrible scenes through the eyes of students hiding in fear during a school shooting.
Following the nationwide rallies for stricter gun control, US President Donald Trump has signed an order to band "bumper stocks" modifications on guns.
