Extreme Weather: How a storm of false and misleading claims about extreme weather events spread unchecked on social media putting lives at risk

New research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) reveals that Meta, X, and YouTube are actively enabling and profiting from the spread of false information during catastrophic weather events, putting lives at risk and hindering emergency responses.

The report shows how, in the wake of recent extreme weather events like the Texas floods and LA fires, these platforms amplified conspiracy theorists while sidelining vital emergency information.

Key Findings

Researchers analyzed 100 viral posts on each of three major platforms during recent extreme weather events, including the LA fires and Hurricanes Helene and Milton. They found:

• Meta (Facebook & Instagram) lacked fact-checks or Community Notes on 98% of posts analyzed.
• X lacked fact-checks or Community Notes on 99% of posts analyzed.
• YouTube failed entirely, with zero fact-checks or Community Notes on 100% of posts analyzed.