Elon Musk is the richest person in the world and the owner of X, Tesla and SpaceX. But perhaps a more appropriate description of this guy would be the biggest and most dangerous troll on the Internet – a characterization that has been on full display over the past few weeks, as Musk has done. trafficked in all sorts of misinformation regarding the devastating storm that hit the South last month and the storm heading towards Florida as we speak. And while the Internet—and especially Musk’s social media network—is awash with misinformation, Musk’s reputation and more than 200 million X-account followers mean the misinformation he spreads had real, devastating consequences.
Among other things, Musk has amplification falsely claimed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was “actively intercepting” shipments of items donated to victims of Hurricane Helene and was “seizing the goods… and locking them up again to claim them as their own”—claiming that FEMA tell the truth and that also seems like bullshit based on Republican leaders’ praise for Washington. Musk also shared more baseless accusations that FEMA does not have enough funding to get through the hurricane season because the agency has given too much money to undocumented migrants, and that Mr. wrote that “FEMA used up all of its budget to transport illegals into the country instead of saving American lives,” accusing the agency of committing “treason.” You are also unreasonable declared Last Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration’s plans to “shut down” airspace over parts of North Carolina were vigorously attacked by Helene, a phony Secretary of Transportation. Butt Pete had to personally explain that it was not true.
Tackle the onslaught of misinformation—which is also not surprising, coming from Donald Trump—FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell speak Tuesday that this was “absolutely the worst thing I have ever seen,” adding, “I expected some of this, but not to the extent that we are seeing.” Although she did not call out Musk or Trump by name, the issues she was forced to address were a product of what these two men had irresponsibly said online. “It’s a pity [people] continue to try to create this level of fear in these communities, which is hindering our ability to do the work at the level that we need to do it, but we’re not going to let that stop us. us,” Criswell told reporters. “We will continue to be present in these communities and support them with whatever they need.” Keith Turi, FEMA’s acting administrator for response and recovery listed multiple falsehoods that had been shared, including by Musk, as if FEMA was “confiscating supplies.” He called the misinformation “extremely damaging to response efforts from Helene and to any disaster,” noting that it “is reducing the ability of survivors to credibly reach FEMA to register for support”.
Over the weekend, North Carolina Gov Roy Cooper, a Democrat, wrote on X: “We need to work together to rebuild and recover from a catastrophic disaster like this — and spreading misinformation to sow chaos will hurt real people. Politicians, billionaires and those who traffic in lies during times of crisis must be held accountable.”
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On Wednesday, Joe Biden slam what he described as “reckless, irresponsible, relentless encouragement of misinformation and outright lies” about the federal response first to Hurricane Helene and now to Hurricane Milton .
Meanwhile, not only are the federal government and Democrats fed up with the lies, but so are Republican lawmakers. “Many of these observations are not even from people on the ground,” North Carolina senator Thom Tillis speak of CBS Face the nation on Sunday. “I believe we have to focus on rescue operations, recovery operations, clearance operations and we don’t need any distractions on the ground. It is the loss of hard-working first responders and those trying to restore their lives.”
