FRESH EYES: Disinformation is partisan; the antidote is interpersonal 

Featured photo: Asheville resident Bill McMannis took this photo on Sept. 27 the day after Hurricane Helene. (photo by Bill McMannis)

Fresh Eyes is TCB’s Letter to the Editor section. To submit your own piece, email [email protected].

The far right’s exploitation of Hurricane Helene to undermine the federal government’s response hit home as I was getting my blood drawn at an Atrium Health lab. 

There, I overheard a nurse telling a patient that Hurricane Helene had been steered toward Asheville to pave the way to mine lithium used in “smart car” batteries. She added that “they” use lasers and other technology to do this now. I felt flat-footed, but I knew I had to speak up, and so I said, “That doesn’t sound right.” Surprised, perhaps, that I had inserted myself into the conversation, she grew quiet. Her colleague then attended to me and added that unlike Floridians, people in the mountains were completely unprepared for the impact.  

Disinformation is the willful spread of false information to deceive targeted audiences. Only one party’s leadership is intentionally seeding lies to stoke paranoia and fear of the other.

Geoengineering to prompt rain is real, but steering hurricanes for the benefit of a leftist agenda is not. It’s a false story spread by US House Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and other extremists on the social media platform, X, formerly Twitter. 

“Yes they can control the weather,” Greene wrote in a post that garnered 40 million views “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.” Rutherford County Management debunked the claim, made in reference to a lithium mine 100 miles from Chimney Rock, NC. Greene has made similar claims with antisemitic underpinnings about the Rothschilds starting wildfires with space lasers. 

The problem is bigger than one caustic zealot. 

Antisemitic attacks against federal officials including Jaclyn Rothenberg, FEMA director of public affair, have proliferated on X. Individuals parrot conspiracy theories, and they slide into daily conversation. But the consequences are life-threatening. 

In Lake Lure, an armed man with a handgun and assault rifle was arrested after threatening FEMA workers. Over 30 bomb threats have been made in Springfield, Ohio after vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants were eating people’s pets. When questioned about the racist rumors, Vance said he was fine stretching the truth so that “the media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people.” 

Knowing that we got our news from different places, I decided to return to the lab. During a conversation with the nurse and her colleague, I emphasized that climate change is real, and that politicians are seeking to exploit the crisis by demonizing their opponents and that these weather control myths further antisemitism. 

“It’s hard to know what to believe when you hear about these once-in-a-thousand-year events,” she said. I don’t know if I got through, but I made an attempt, and we had a civil discussion.  

And you can do it too. In fact, it’s important that you do.

Until revisions are made to section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, online companies will continue to be free from liability for hosting false injurious content. It will be up to individuals to challenge one another and share stories of what’s actually happening on the ground. 

While journalists are fact checking at warp speed and FEMA has set up a “Rumor Response,” page debunking disinformation, people trust those who are closest to them. Climate chaos and political dishonesty are both reminders that in dire times we will need to turn to one another in life, in loss and for the occasional reality check.