CCDH found that X, YouTube, and Meta (Instagram and Facebook), allow a storm of false and misleading claims about extreme weather events like the Texas floods, Hurricane Helene and the LA wildfires flood their platforms – disrupting disaster response, and putting lives at risk.

CCDH looked at the 300 most-liked posts on X, YouTube, and Meta about extreme weather events.

We found:

• False or misleading claims about extreme weather were viewed 221 million times across all platforms.
• Community Notes or fact checks are almost entirely absent on viral posts spreading false claims during major disasters.
  • 98% of the 100 posts analyzed on Facebook and Instagram
  • 99% of the 100 posts analyzed on X
  • All the 100 posts analyzed on YouTube
• Social media companies are profiting from lies about extreme weather events.
  • On X, 88% of misleading extreme weather posts were from verified accounts. The platform enables paid subscriptions for five of these accounts – which combined have 14 million followers
  • On YouTube, 73% of posts were from verified accounts. YouTube displayed ads next to 29% of misleading extreme weather videos.
  • On Facebook and Instagram, 64% of posts were from verified accounts. Meta is sharing ad revenue with three content creators pushing misleading claims, enabling them to share in Meta’s revenue from ads near their posts.
• ‘Superspreaders’ of false claims and conspiracies online, like Alex Jones, get more views than official information during extreme weather...

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