As Texas reels from fatal floods, CCDH reveals how conspiracies about extreme weather spread faster than life-saving alerts.

New research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) reveals that the four leading social media platforms actively enable and profit from false information around extreme weather events, leading to increased risks to public safety, impeded emergency response, and erosion of public trust in disaster relief efforts. This new CCDH report reveals how, in the wake of extreme weather tragedies over the past year such as the Texas floods, LA fires, and Hurricane Helene, social media platforms amplified conspiracy theorists while sidelining vital emergency information, putting lives at risk.

"While families mourned and first responders combed through wreckage after climate disasters in Texas and California, social media companies shamelessly exploited these catastrophes for profit. The rapid spread of climate conspiracies online isn't accidental, it's baked into a business model that profits from outrage and division," said Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH. "LA County officials told me that after the fires earlier this year, scammers placed social media ads impersonating federal emergency aid agencies to steal victims' personal information. When distraught people can't distinguish real help from online deception, platforms become complicit in the suffering of innocent people."

Key Findings

Researchers analyzed 100 viral posts on each of three major...

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