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Friend, Devastating floods swept across Central Texas on the weekend of 4th of July and killed at least 130 people, including more than 20 children at a summer camp in Kerr County. Our new research shows that the tragedy was followed by yet another storm: one of false and misleading claims about the extreme event across X, Meta and YouTube. These included false or misleading posts by well-known conspiracists and promoters of false or misleading narratives: An X post from Alex Jones that claims that “weather weapons” are responsible. A YouTube video from Charlie Kirk that claims that it’s “legitimate” to blame “cloud seeding”. An Instagram post from Michael Shellenberger that claims that the floods were not related to climate change and that those who say they were are “trapped in a weird cult”.
X, Meta, and YouTube are failing to stop the spread of lies about extreme weather events. This causes serious real-life consequences like slow response, and even death threats. Friend, share these important findings and tell everyone how social media giants aren’t doing enough to tackle the spread of lies during tragedies like the Texas floods – putting lives at risk.
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