Storms Helene and Milton have triggered rise of misinformation stoked by Trump and fellow Republicans
Meteorologists tracking the advance of Hurricane Milton have been targeted by a deluge of conspiracy theories that they were controlling the weather, abuse and even death threats, amid what they say is an unprecedented surge in misinformation as two major hurricanes have hit the US.
A series of falsehoods and threats have swirled in the two weeks since Hurricane Helene tore through six states causing several hundred deaths, followed by Milton crashing into Florida on Wednesday.
The extent of the misinformation, which has been stoked by Donald Trump and his followers, has been such that it has stymied the ability to help hurricane-hit communities, according to the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).
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A perfect example of this is that recent claim that Geico stopped providing insurance for the Tesla “Cybertruck.” Tons of people, including many here on Lemmy, were quick to believe and share this story. A handful of users pointed out that the source couldn’t be verified, but those comments were drowned out by all the “Ha, take that, Musk!” comments.
It just goes to show that everyone is vulnerable to misinformation. If we want to claim to be well-informed, we have to question everything - even (or especially) the stories that reinforce our existing beliefs.
Well, this is interesting. I did come across that story but wasn’t interested enough to question it. Other than the larger point you’re making, I couldn’t care less. However, reading the Snopes article, the only evidence to the contrary is “A Geico corporate spokesperson told Snopes via email that the company has “coverage available nationwide for the Tesla Cybertruck.”” which feels a little flimsy to me. It would be nice if they’d post something on their site or socials to confirm.
So some unknown person makes an unsubstantiated claim on Xitter. A recognized and mostly respected fact checker, Snopes, picks it up and contacts Geico where one of their agents denies it.
It’s abundantly clear the original claim was a fabrication, likely meant to feed the anti-elon crowd, so why are you assigning the same credibility to both sides? How does some unknown person on Xitter have anywhere close to the same credibility as both Snopes and Geico?
This is precisely what’s happening in the Conservative circles. They’re being presented with stories that are consistent with their world view so they don’t question it but they rarely see the retraction of a story that was dis-proven. If they do see the retraction they ignore or downplay it, often by requiring some higher standard of proof.
So much of the “news”, regardless of the topic, is a jenga tower of partial truths, misdirections, and outright lies.
Geico has not said anything publicly, one way or the other. I would generally lean towards believing Snopes but, with such little evidence other than “someone told us otherwise”, I could very easily see this being retracted. I mean, they could at least mention the name of the “corporate spokesperson”.
I think we should all be more skeptical of everything we read. It’s not at all rare for a reputable organization to retract a statement, as you’ve suggested yourself.
I wrote that comment on my lunch break at work and, of the immediate links that came up when I searched for a supporting article, Snopes was the most readily available and reliable source I had at hand. It’s a site with a long history of debunking claims via thorough research, and yes, they cite their sources. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Sources.” It’s just above the author’s credit.
If you’ve found any evidence of Geico dropping coverage of all Cybertrucks (not just individual vehicles/owners, whom may be dropped for a myriad of reasons), I’m eager to hear it. In the meantime, enjoy checking any of these links that all say the same thing - that the author reached out to Geico, and Geico confirmed to them that they do cover the Cybertruck.
Of course, there’s always the option of just calling Geico for yourself. But debunking the same rumor over and over again is exhausting, and I feel bad for whoever is having to answer all these calls. At this point, Geico said their part. The burden of proof is now on those making the “dropping coverage” claim.
The beliefs we hold by analysing information may not be the actual state. The only thing a blank slate logical mind can do is that to think a bit, verify multiple sources and get to a conclusion. Multiple sources points to different views having some reasonable practicality. Blank Slate refers to a neutral unbiased mindset.