Environmental disinformation is getting weirder

Outside/In

NHPR

Society & Culture, Documentary, Natural Sciences, Nature, Science

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 19 October 2023

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

During disasters, people flock to social media to share warnings, coordinate in real time, and share images of the destruction. But others use the chaos of breaking news events to spread false information. On today’s episode, we’re exploring the rise of fake news in the environmental space, from #HawaiiNotUkraine, to a news site spreading climate disinformation in Wyoming. Plus, we speak to the people fighting back, including a community fact-checker correcting earthquake disinformation on X. SUPPORT Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!). Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook. Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837). LINKS This article, written before Elon Musk took over X, profiled Celeste Labedz and some other folks fighting diisonfmration on social media (Poynter) Check out Caroline Orr Bueno’s substack newsletter, Weaponized, and her piece about the #HawaiiNotUkraine hashtag. Jem Bartholomew’s story about the sudden growth of a Wyoming news site that’s rife with climate disinformation (CJR) CREDITS Host: Nate Hegyi Reported and produced by Jeongyoon Han Mixed by Taylor Quimby Edited by Taylor Quimby, with help from Nate Hegyi and Felix Poon. Our staff also includes Justine Paradis. Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio. Music by Blue Dot Sessions Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Nate Hegey, and this is Outside In.
0:03.8	This may well be the beginning of a historic weather event, the National Weather Service
0:08.9	warns of flash flooding.
0:10.4	This August, Tropical Storm Hillary barreled up the West Coast and hit parts of Southern
0:14.6	California.
0:17.3	These are arid regions that saw months or even years worth of rain in just a couple of
0:21.9	days.
0:23.2	People flock to social media to document the destruction in real time.
0:26.8	But, useful as social media can be for spreading news quickly, it's hard to know who to trust.
0:39.9	One guy posted a video on X, formerly called Twitter, of water cascading down the steps
0:45.2	of a flooded subway.
0:47.1	The LA Metro station on Wilshire, Vermont, is flooding from the storm, he captioned.
0:56.0	Turns out, that clip was not real.
0:59.7	Yes, Hillary did bring heavy rain in some flooding.
1:03.6	But this particular video was from the earthquake ride at Universal Studios.
1:23.7	During natural disasters and other emergencies, misinformation can be a distraction or even
1:29.7	downright dangerous, especially when it gets amplified by powerful people.
1:34.6	Some of Elon Musk's favorite accounts are sharing climate misinformation and health
1:38.7	misinformation and stuff like that.
1:40.7	Today on the show, we're talking to three people about recent falsities, fakeries, and
1:45.1	fraudulent information spreading across our online ecosystems.
1:48.9	Emotions are high and people are scared and people want information.
	...

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