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[ [link removed] ]Free Press

Friend,

As people across Florida and the Southeast braced for Hurricane Milton, Elon Musk used his platform to spread disinformation about ongoing federal emergency-response efforts.

Tens of millions of people viewed Musk’s bogus claim that FEMA was blocking aid shipments to those in desperate need of relief. It didn’t take long before he recycled the same racist and anti-immigrant conspiracy theories we’ve seen too much of these days, when he insisted that FEMA had “used up its budget ferrying [immigrants] into the country instead of saving American lives.”

Social media has been further inundated with (often antisemitic) accusations of shadowy groups manipulating the weather for political gain[1] and false suggestions that relief grants are loans.

Disaster victims need supplies, not lies.

In the terrible two years since Musk took over Twitter, he’s decimated the teams that were responsible for curbing the spread of disinformation — a poor decision that is putting lives at risk as FEMA rushes in to try to save those who were caught in the paths of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

This past week was another test of online platforms’ readiness and willingness to stem a deluge of disinformation. It’s a test that they once again failed with dire consequences: Meteorologists and other officials are now facing death threats[2] as a result of this intentional degradation of social trust.

By recklessly sowing doubt in our institutions, Musk is already spreading the next “Big Lie”: the false claim that hundreds of thousands of immigrants are being bussed into battleground states to tilt the vote toward Democrats.[3] This authoritarian scheme puts vulnerable communities at risk, threatens the good work of poll workers and has a chilling effect on voter participation.

This surge of disinformation is a preview for what we’ll see in the waning days of the 2024 election season, especially as votes are counted.

As part of our Democracy Is … initiative, Free Press is leading the charge to demand that media companies and technology platforms prioritize truth over sensationalism, accountability over profits and democracy over division. Learn more about this project and how you can get involved:[[link removed]

Thank you,

Tim and the rest of us at Free Press

P.S. In times of upheaval, whether that’s in the form of natural disasters or contested elections, online disinformation is more widespread than ever. Can we count on your support to ensure we have the resources we need to face this threat? [[link removed]

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1. “Disinformation and Conspiracy Theories Cloud Helene Recovery Efforts in Hard-Hit Areas,” PBS, Oct. 5, 2024

2. “Meteorologists Get Death Threats as Hurricane Milton Conspiracy Theories Thrive,” Rolling Stone, Oct. 9, 2024

3. “Elon Musk’s Nonsensical Lies About Immigrant Voting, Explained,” Vox, Oct. 2, 2024

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