Unfounded assertions about the government's handling of the Helene situation serve as a concerning indication for the upcoming election
The violent surge of misleading information attacking Biden administration's handling of the damaging hurricane serves as an ominous indicator for the upcoming election, with the presidential race between ex-President Trump and VP Kamala Harris set to trigger further assaults on the truth.
"If you believe the lies, distortions, and ignorant ramblings about FEMA are intense now, just wait until next month," Tim Alberta, an author and writer for The Atlantic, penned on X, one of the major platforms where fake news spreads faster than truth.
Elon Musk, the X owner who has backed Trump, has consistently shared rumors and hints criticizing the government's response to Helene. Most of the misinformation is politically charged, portraying President Biden and Harris as incapable as part of a strategy to help Trump secure re-election.
Politicians and disaster relief staff in the affected area from Georgia to North Carolina, including numerous Republican politicians, have debunked the lies and urged people to stop spreading unverified rumors online.
Kerry Giles, the public information officer for Rutherford County, NC, spoke to CNN on Saturday stating that debunking these rumors "consumed resources that should have been used in the recovery efforts."
Giles and her colleagues issued a statement on Friday shutting down several false stories circulating online about the ruined towns of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock Village. No, they said, the government is not taking over Chimney Rock; no, there is no plan to seize property; no, there aren't dead bodies everywhere due to the storm.
"Snopes.com and regional media outlets" have covered the majority of debunking, which has helped to reduce some of the misinformation spreading, Giles told CNN.
Some of the most-shared lies on social media have revolved around FEMA's response. Trump has wrongfully alleged that relief funds are being withheld from primarily Republican areas after the agency redirected relief money to support migrants.
"A billion dollars was stolen from FEMA to give it to illegal migrants," Trump falsely claimed on Friday in Georgia.
However, Trump was accusing the Biden administration of an act remarkably similar to something he initiated as president.
"Republican politicians keep refuting the nonsense, and MAGA doesn't care," conservative columnist David French wrote in a social media post on Saturday. "They follow deceivers, and when the deceivers deceive, they believe them and detest anyone who tells the truth."
Veteran users of X claim that the volume of false and baseless information on the platform is worsening – in part because Musk reversed actions to curb viral misinformation and reactivated conspiracy theorist accounts.
Officials at FEMA have published a rumor control page to challenge bogus claims like "FEMA is confiscating donations for survivors." Mike Rothschild, a journalist who has written two books about conspiracy theory culture, deemed FEMA's effort "noble but doomed." He wrote on X that "nobody who wants to believe the lies will trust the source, and the denials will simply be rolled into the conspiracy theories."
Or, as the hosts of the progressive podcast Appalachia stated more directly, "the internet has destroyed people's minds."
Misleading AI-generated images purporting to be from the disaster zone have been spreading rapidly on Facebook, leading one local news station to publish a "how to spot AI-generated Helene storm photos" explainer.
As North Carolina columnist Billy Ball wrote on Friday, "We have numerous crises in the U.S., but few are as significant as the information crisis. People are lying to us to make us hate each other, to take our money, to boost a cause or another."
And all signs indicate an even uglier atmosphere once the votes start to be counted next month.
In the wake of Elon Musk sharing controversial claims about the government's response to the hurricane, some major media outlets, like X, have become platforms for spreading misinformation.
Given the current situation, it's expected that business corporations, such as those involved in disaster relief, may face increased scrutiny and baseless accusations in the upcoming months.
