Russia amplified hurricane disinformation to drive Americans apart, researchers find; AP, October 24, 2024

DAVID KLEPPER, AP; Russia amplified hurricane disinformation to drive Americans apart, researchers find

"Russia has helped amplify and spread false and misleading internet claims about recent hurricanes in the United States and the federal government’s response, part of a wider effort by the Kremlin to manipulate America’s political discourse before the presidential election, new research shows.

The content, spread by Russian state media and networks of social media accounts and websites, criticizes the federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, exploiting legitimate concerns about the recovery effort in an attempt to paint American leaders as incompetent and corrupt, according to research from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. The London-based organization tracks disinformation and online extremism."

FEMA Chief: Hurricane Misinformation Is ‘Worst That I Have Ever Seen’; The New York Times, October 8, 2024

Stuart A. Thompson , The New York Times; FEMA Chief: Hurricane Misinformation Is ‘Worst That I Have Ever Seen’

"Disaster relief officials have issued several warnings this week that falsehoods and rumors spreading online about the government’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton have harmed relief efforts.

Former President Donald J. Trump and other prominent conservatives have spread several false claims about the federal response to Helene in recent days. Deanne Criswell, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said on Tuesday that the claims had made the agency a target of partisan rebuke and put lives at risk.

“It’s absolutely the worst that I have ever seen,” Ms. Criswell said during a phone call with reporters on Tuesday morning.

Misinformation and rumors often circulate amid natural disasters, as information is scarce and tensions are high. But the scale and speed of falsehoods that have circulated during Helene and Milton have surprised officials, including Ms. Criswell, who said on Tuesday that she had “anticipated some of this, but not to the extent that we’re seeing.”

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a research group that studies online platforms, found that debunked claims about Hurricane Helene and FEMA’s response were circulating widely on X, the platform owned by Elon Musk that has increasingly become a haven for misinformation. The group found that just 33 posts containing claims debunked by government sources were seen more than 160 million times by Monday."