US authorities are struggling to counter misinformation at a time when miscalculations can have deadly consequences.
As entire communities in Los Angeles were being engulfed by hurricane-force firestorms that ignited last week, pugilistic right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones posted a video on X, formerly Twitter.
By Jones’ account, the deadly bushfires that had by midday on Monday destroyed almost 16,200 hectares in California were part of a globalist plot to collapse American society and, indeed, the entire Western world.Elon Musk, the most powerful and influential person in President-elect Donald Trump’s inner sanctum, replied to Jones with one word: “True.”
Authorities are once again struggling to put accurate information in front of residents at a time when miscalculations can have deadly consequences.The Washington Post“If people don’t trust their government, but the government is saying you are in an evacuation zone and need to evacuate people, people might not do that or they might do it too late,” he said.
The scale of the information wars engulfing the United States is beyond anything seen in Australia, but experts say it could also happen here,Facebook and Instagram’s fact-checking service would be dumped.
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