How rumors and lies hurt people trying to recover from disasters like Helene
When Trevor Allen and his family emerged from under the kitchen table where they barricaded themselves during the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the destruction from flooding in their neighborhood shocked him.
So did the flood of misinformation and disinformation that quickly emerged on social media, including about his own North Carolina community, where he is pastor of the Fairview Christian Fellowship. The situation in Fairview was "absolutely awful," Allen said. The social posts didn't "need to make it worse."
Experts weren't surprised by the unfounded rumors and divisive posts that appeared. They've documented a growing stream of such material after natural disasters in the United States.
Misinformation and false rumors have been around as long as there have been emergencies, said Jamie Biglow, a consultant who works in emergency planning for a range of disasters with CNA, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research and analysis organization.
Now social media has given purveyors of either accidentally or purposely inaccurate or harmful information a broader, and faster, platform. Experts at CNA said the avalanche of posts after Helene and the Maui wildfires is just another example of how pervasive it is and how quickly it moves.
Even as many rallied in Helene's aftermath and used social media to collect donations and get help to those in need, divisive and inaccurate posts prompted public officials, agencies and even storm victims to go online to refute the misinformation and plead for cooperation.
Biglow and others urge social media users to look at posts more skeptically and think twice before sharing during emergencies. They say many who see and share might be surprised to learn the origin of some posts or the true intent behind them.
Deliberate interference
In addition to social media influencers and others who may post inaccurate information trying to get attention, foreign governments deliberately deploy misinformation after disasters, said Megan McBride, a senior research scientist at CNA.
Commonly referred to as disinformation, deceptive posts and false narratives circulated by foreign governments on social media aim to sow discontent and ill will among U.S. citizens, McBride said. It’s "creating friction or tension between the U.S. citizens and their confidence in their government."
The U.S. government and other research organizations traced disinformation back to the Chinese Communist Party and to Russia after disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, McBride said. It's "almost like there are scripts out there" that the Chinese and Russian governments can pick up and follow after disasters, she said.
“Beijing exploits natural disasters as propaganda opportunities to undermine trust in the U.S. government both domestically and internationally,” said CNA’s Heidi Holz, a senior research scientist, China and Indo-Pacific Security Affairs. The Chinese Community Party attempts to "exploit divisions within American society and spread disinformation both overtly and covertly in ways that have the potential to complicate U.S. disaster relief efforts."
The same kinds of tactics arise with Russia, she said. Since the summer, federal officials have announced at least three times that they had linked false or misleading social posts to Russian efforts. In early November, federal agencies said the Russian government was spreading false information in the days leading up to the election.
McBride and Biglow say Americans can learn to discern truth from fiction and help disrupt the efforts of foreign governments and others.
Taking advantage of emotions
Misleading or erroneous posts don’t always come with ill intent. “It could come from a place of genuine concern,” Biglow said. At other times, such posts are driven by “less noble feelings of ‘I want the likes or I want the attention,’ or to promote a certain narrative.”
No matter where the posts come from, they try to appeal to basic human emotions present in the wake of a disaster.
Emotion will always trump facts when people are struggling to process information, said Andy Carvin, research director at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab.
One vivid example after Helene was a rumor that spread in tearful videos and social posts pleading for donations of body bags for flood victims being recovered from the destruction. Two social media users who shared the plea, including one nonprofit, said they were unable to verify the source or accuracy of the request. Three others did not return messages from USA TODAY seeking more information.
Tennessee and North Carolina officials said there was no such need, that supplies were available. No information had been reported “either anecdotally or through official channels that would suggest any basis for these claims,” said Sarah Lewis Peel, a communications officer working with North Carolina’s emergency response.
Disaster and disinformation
Whether influencers were foreign or domestic, the flood of misinformation on social media after Helene dismayed residents and officials already overwhelmed by the scope of the real disaster they faced.
At Allen's home, when the immediate danger passed, he and a neighbor grabbed chainsaws and cut their way out of the driveway, only to find the road “completely gone,” Allen said. It had been eroded when a tiny creek that barely trickled “rose like 20 feet and destroyed everything in its path."
The rushing water lofted trees into a pile 40 feet tall and 100 feet wide and moved boulders the size of cars, he said. After the family was rescued by firefighters in an all-terrain vehicle, their ride into town with them was a “tour of absolute destruction.”
Fairview Christian Fellowship became a distribution site for food, water and toiletries. People lingered to talk and pray, speaking of lost loved ones, Allen said. Meanwhile, his community and others were being rattled by sensational but inaccurate stories circulating on social media.
He read one post reporting horrific scenes of bodies at a local park he knew well. “I’ve driven past that park 100 times and have not seen a single deceased person,” he said.
“There are people who were trapped in mud, and trapped in log jams and were swept away. It’s bad enough. You don’t need to overhype it."
The misinformation, he said, was profoundly upsetting to those left behind.
"There are people who will have empty chairs at their table now," he said. “To sensationalize it is absolutely disrespectful to the memories of those that have been lost and their families."
Addressing misinformation
Elsewhere in the region, public officials took to social media to address the misinformation.
North Carolina state Sen. Kevin Corbin appealed to his friends and constituents on Facebook. “Will you all help STOP this conspiracy theory junk that is floating all over Facebook and the internet about the floods in (Western North Carolina)?” the Republican posted. “It is just a distraction to people trying to do their job.”
FEMA and the state of North Carolina launched web pages to debunk rumors and push out accurate information.
Governments need to prepare plans so they can start communicating immediately after a disaster and get ahead of misinformation, said Carvin and others.
From afar, watching the social media rumors during the Helene disaster was “devastating and chilling, thinking what we would do if we were in a similar situation,” said Kristin Hogan Schildwachter, chief communications officer for the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management.
“Having the ability to recognize something quickly so we can demystify or debunk it and address it quickly is really pivotal,” Schildwachter said. “The long-term effects can be disastrous especially in a situation when it’s confusing and people are scared and looking for that trusted source of information.”
She and Biglow suggested local governments work with a national network of fusion centers, established by state governments in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security for the gathering and sharing of threat-related information.
The centers track disinformation and can help develop plans to address it, Schildwachter said. She added it's important to coordinate with those in law enforcement and cyberterrorism who are watching for nefarious characters who want to "try and derail an efficient emergency response."
Biglow also recommends officials know what the hot-button issues are in their communities, work on consistent messaging with other local agencies and governments and "have counternarratives that are prepared 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, families and loved ones against misinformation and disinformation by learning to critically assess what they read and share, McBride said.
It's important for people to understand the real world consequences of sharing bad information, she said. For example, sharing an inaccurate post about a road closure could prompt someone to take a longer route while rushing a loved one to the hospital.
One challenge with social media content is people often don’t know the origin of the content they see, McBride said.
“If I receive content from my great-aunt Gertrude, it's very unlikely that my great-aunt is the one that made that content," she said. A meme may not have any markings "to indicate that it was made by a Russian troll."
CNA and others recommend these steps:
Be skeptical of content that makes you angry. If you do look at something that infuriates you, take a closer look, McBride said.
Recognize that as humans we’re vulnerable to content that aligns with our pre-existing beliefs or that arouses strong emotions, which makes it more likely to be shared.
Ask yourself whether a post is true, and whether you really need to be the person sharing the post.
Try to find up-to-date local information.
"We will never be able to get rid of the misinformation and disinformation completely because we live in a free information environment," Biglow said. "What we do want to do is limit it and encourage people to become aware of the potential."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Disinformation hurt Helene recovery efforts: What to know
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