False claims about the federal response to Hurricane Helene have been spreading on social media, hindering recovery efforts in affected areas. The misinformation is targeting the Biden administration’s response to the storm and is expected to escalate as the presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris approaches. Elon Musk, a Trump supporter, has been among those spreading rumors denigrating the government’s response in an attempt to help Trump win reelection.
Local officials and emergency responders in the affected areas have refuted the lies and urged people to stop sharing unsupported rumors on social media. Efforts to debunk misinformation have consumed valuable resources that could have been used for recovery efforts. Politicians and public information officers have issued statements shutting down false claims regarding government actions in the aftermath of the storm.
Some of the most-shared lies on social media involve FEMA’s response to Hurricane Helene, with Trump falsely claiming that relief funds are being withheld from predominantly Republican areas. Veteran users of the platform where these rumors are spreading say the amount of misinformation is increasing, in part due to Musk’s actions to reinstate accounts of conspiracy theorists. FEMA has created a rumor control page to push back on false claims.
The proliferation of misleading AI-generated images purporting to be from the disaster zone on Facebook has added to the spread of misinformation. Local news stations have had to publish guides on how to spot these fake images. The information crisis in the U.S. is seen as a significant issue, with people lying to create division and promote various causes. The upcoming election is expected to create an even more hostile environment as misinformation continues to spread.
Overall, the spread of false claims about the federal response to Hurricane Helene on social media has hampered recovery efforts and created a divisive atmosphere in the affected areas. The upcoming presidential election is expected to further exacerbate the spread of misinformation, with political figures and public officials refuting these lies. Efforts to debunk false claims have consumed valuable resources and efforts, while the proliferation of AI-generated images has added to the confusion. Dealing with the information crisis in the U.S. is seen as a significant challenge, with fears of further division as the election draws closer.
