Misinformation Harms Helen’s Recovery Efforts: What You Need to Know

When Trevor Allen and his family emerged from under the kitchen table where they had barricaded themselves during Hurricane Helen relief efforts, destruction due to flooding in their area shocked him.

As did the stream of misinformation and disinformation that quickly surfaced on social media, including about his own congregation in North Carolina, where he pastors Fairview Christian Fellowship. The situation in Fairview was “absolutely terrifying,” Allen said. Social media posts don’t “need to make things worse.”

Experts were not surprised by the unsubstantiated rumors and contradictory posts that appeared. They documented the increasing flow of such materials after natural disasters in the United States.

Misinformation and false rumors have been circulating for as long as there have been emergencies, said Jamie Biglow, a consultant who works with emergency planning for a number of disasters at CNA. a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC scientific and analytical organization.

However, social media has provided a wider and faster platform for the spreaders of accidentally or intentionally inaccurate or harmful information. CNA experts said that the avalanche of posts after Helen and Maui wildfires this is just another example of how widespread it is and how fast it moves.

Even as many rallied after Helen and used social media to do so collect donations and receive help to those in need contradictory and inaccurate posts prompted government officials, agencies and even storm victims go online to disprove misinformation and ask for cooperation.

Biglow and others urge social media users to view posts with more skepticism and think twice before sharing them in emergency situations. They say many who see and share may be surprised to learn the origin of some of the posts or the true intentions behind them.

Intentional interference

In addition to social media influencers and others who may post false information in an attempt to gain attention, foreign governments deliberately spread misinformation after disasters, said Megan McBride, a senior fellow at CNA.

Commonly referred to as disinformation, McBride said, misleading posts and false narratives spread by foreign governments on social media are intended to sow resentment and abuse among US citizens. It is “creating friction or tension between the citizens of the United States and their trust in their government.”

The U.S. government and other research organizations have traced disinformation to the Chinese Communist Party and Russia after previous disasters, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005said McBride. These are “almost like scenarios” that the Chinese and Russian governments can pick up and follow after disasters, she said.

“Beijing uses natural disasters as propaganda opportunities to undermine the credibility of the U.S. government both domestically and internationally,” said CNA’s Heidi Holtz, senior fellow for China and the Indo-Pacific security. The Chinese Community Party is trying to “exploit divisions in American society and spread misinformation both overtly and covertly in ways that could potentially complicate U.S. disaster relief efforts,” she said.

According to her, the same issues arise with Russia. Federal officials have said so at least three times since the summer linked false or misleading social media posts to Russian efforts. In early November, federal agencies reported the Russian government spread false information a few days before the election.

McBride and Biglow say Americans can learn to distinguish truth from fiction help thwart the efforts of foreign governments etc.

Using emotions

Misleading or misleading posts are not always malicious. “It can come from a place of real concern,” Biglow said. In other cases, such posts are driven by “less noble sentiments: ‘I want to get likes or I want to get attention’ or to push a particular narrative.”

Regardless of where the posts come from, they try to address the basic human emotions present in the aftermath of a disaster.

Emotion always trumps facts when people struggle to process information, said Andy Carwin, head of research at Atlantic Council Digital Forensics Laboratory.

One prime example after Helen was a rumor that spread through tearful videos and social media posts asking for body bags to be donated for flood victims being pulled from the rubble. Two social media users who shared the request, including one nonprofit, said they were unable to verify the source or accuracy of the request. Three others did not respond to messages from USA TODAY seeking additional information.

Representatives of the state of Tennessee and North Carolina said that there is no such need, that there is enough stock. No information suggesting any basis for the claims has been reported “either anecdotally or through official channels,” said Sarah Lewis Peale, communications officer for the North Carolina Department of Emergency Response.

Disaster and misinformation

Whether the influencers were foreign or local, the flood of misinformation on social media after Helen scared residents and officials who were already overwhelmed by the scale of the real disaster they were facing.

At Allen’s home, once the immediate danger had passed, he and a neighbor grabbed chainsaws and cut a road out of the driveway, only to find the road “completely gone,” Allen said. It was washed away when the tiny, barely flowing stream “rose 20 feet and destroyed everything in its path.”

The rushing water lifted trees into a 40-foot-tall, 100-foot-wide pile and moved massive boulders the size of a car, he said. After being rescued by firefighters in an all-terrain vehicle, the family’s trip to the city became a “tour of total destruction.”

Fairview Christian Fellowship became a distribution site for food, water and toilet supplies. People stopped to talk and pray, talking about lost loved ones, Allen said. Meanwhile, his community and others were alarmed by sensational but inaccurate stories circulating on social media.

He read one post that described gruesome corpse scenes in a local park he knew well.. “I’ve driven past that park 100 times and never seen a dead person.”

“There are people who got stuck in the mud, stuck in traffic and were swept away,” he said. “It’s bad enough. You don’t need to hype it up.”

According to him, this misinformation deeply upset those who remained.

“There are people who will now have empty chairs at the table,” he said. “Creating sensationalism is absolutely disrespectful to the memory of those who died and their families.”

Fight against disinformation

Elsewhere in the region, government officials have turned to social media to address the misinformation.

North Carolina state Sen. Kevin Corbin, R-Raleigh, reached out to his friends and constituents on Facebook. “Will you all help STOP this (Western North Carolina) flood conspiracy theory junk being spread on Facebook and the internet?” Corbin wrote. “It’s just a distraction to people who are trying to do their jobs.”

FEMA and the state of North Carolina have launched web pages to debunk rumors and provide accurate information.

Governments should prepare plans in advance so they can begin communicating immediately after a disaster and get ahead of misinformation, Carwin and others said.

Watching the social media buzz from afar during the Helene disaster was “devastating and terrifying to think about what we would do if we were in a similar situation,” said Christine Hogan Schildwachter, chief communications officer for the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management. .

“Being able to recognize something quickly so we can demystify or debunk it and fix the problem quickly is really key,” Schildwachter said. “The long-term effects can be catastrophic, especially in a situation where it’s confusing and people are scared and looking for a reliable source of information.”

She and Biglow suggested local governments partner with the national network fusion centers established by state governments in collaboration with Homeland Security to collect and share information related to threats.

The centers monitor misinformation and can help develop plans to combat it, Schildwachter said. She added that it’s important to coordinate with those working with law enforcement and cyberterrorists who are on the lookout for nefarious characters who want to “try to disrupt effective emergency response.”

Biglow also recommends officials know what hot-button issues are happening in their communities, work on consistent messaging with other local agencies and governments and “have counter-narratives ready for that,” and identify trusted voices in the community to help combat misinformation. .

How to help stop the spread of false information

Americans can be the “first line of defense” to protect their friends, neighbors, family and loved ones from misinformation by learning to critically evaluate what they read and share, McBride said.

According to her, it is important for people to understand the real consequences of spreading bad information. For example, posting an inaccurate post about a road closure could prompt someone to take a longer route, rushing a loved one to the hospital.

One of the problems with social media content is that people often don’t know the origin of the content they’re viewing, McBride said.

“If I receive content from my great aunt Gertrude, it is very unlikely that my great aunt is the one who created the content,” she said. The meme may not have any markings “that would indicate that it was created by a Russian troll.”

CNAs and others recommend these steps:

Be extremely skeptical of content that makes you genuinely angry. If you do look at something that upsets you, take a closer look, McBride said.
Recognize that as humans we are vulnerable to content that aligns with our preconceived beliefs or evokes strong emotions, making it more likely to be shared.
Ask yourself if this is true and if you really need to be the person sharing the post.
Try to find relevant local information.

“We will never be able to completely get rid of misinformation and disinformation because we live in a free information environment,” Biglow said. “We want to limit it and get people to realize the potential.”