Disinformation In Hyperdrive; Space Lasers Started Maui Fires, Because Secret Weapons

[hatrack]

Disinformation about deadly wildfires in the United States and Canada has run rampant across social media, with posts falsely blaming coordinated arson, lasers—and plans to develop “smart cities.” Allegations that the fires are a deliberate policy to clear areas for urban redesign deploy screenshots of government websites or headlines about everything from traffic monitoring to conferences about new technology.

“So what are the odds that we have two fires in two places within a week’s time, and both of these places have initiatives to become smart-intelligent cities?” says a woman in a TikTok video, pointing to Lahaina, Hawaii and West Kelowna, British Columbia—both of which were ravaged by wildfires in August. Some of the videos fact-checked by AFP are no longer available on TikTok, but copies continue to circulate on Facebook, Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter.

Kelowna did publish an “intelligent city” strategy in 2020, but there is no evidence that ground is being cleared on purpose—a theory that has amassed millions of views in clips shared across platforms. “I cannot conceive why a government would intentionally burn down a city to increase its use of smart city technologies,” said Harvey Miller, director of the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis at The Ohio State University. “There is no reason to destroy infrastructure to rebuild it smarter.”

The conspiracy theories come amid widespread distrust in digitizing urban areas. A 2022 Axios-Momentive poll found only half of Americans are comfortable with the prospect of living in a smart city.

EDIT

https://climatecrocks.com/2023/09/12/dumb-city-conspiracy-theorists-spread-wild-fires-disinformation/

[Think. Again.]

1. Imagine the good that could be done...

...if the amount of time, money, and effort that the fossil fuel industry is putting into their psychological campaigns to diminish concerns over climate change, were instead put into trying to stop CO2 emissions and to mitigate the effects of the CO2 we have already clouded the atmosphere with.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. This has nothing to do with the "fossil fuel industry"

Hawaii News Now: Hawaii leaders, tech experts battle ‘war online’ of misinformation over Maui wildfires

By Mahealani Richardson
Published: Sep. 13, 2023 at 9:39 PM EDT

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - After online rumors from the Maui wildfire linked to China and Russia spread fear and division, big tech took center stage at Capitol Hill.

After Hawaii News Now’s story aired Tuesday that researchers found China and Russia were linked to online misinformation from the Maui wildfires, there were many angry comments saying the report was “government propaganda.”

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono said the federal government’s response was hindered by online rumors.

“Maui residents were subjected to disinformation, some of it coming from foreign governments, i.e. Russia, looking to sow confusion and distrust, including don’t sign up for FEMA because they cannot be trusted,” Hirono said.

…

(Follow the link for video…)

[Think. Again.]

3. The fossil fuel industry....

...has been known to spread lies and disinformation about the harm their products cause for decades, and have been paying social media influencers to greenwash their industry and delay the transition away from CO2 emissions for years:

https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-denial-social-media-fossil-fuel-industry.html

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/10/fossil-fuel-firms-social-media-fightback-against-climate-action

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. And this has nothing to do with them

This is coming from Russia and China.

[Think. Again.]

5. You do realize...

...that Russia and China have strong fossil fuel industries, don't you?

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. And so does the US...

This is about sowing discord, not selling fossil fuel.

[Think. Again.]

7. This is about...

..attempting to distract from the true cause of increasing natural disasters, fossil fuels.

[OKIsItJustMe]

9. And that explains why Maui residents were warned that they couldn't trust FEMA!

[Think. Again.]

10. I'm sure you could....

...pick out a lot of content from that article that doesn't apply to my post, but my post does apply to the article as a whole and I think you could probably see that if you weren't so determined to argue with everything I ever post.

[OKIsItJustMe]

11. I'm not "determined to argue with everything (you) ever post."

Certainly, the fossil fuel companies are not above deception:
The Messenger: Exxon Ex-CEO Rex Tillerson Privately Pushed Back Against Climate Warnings: Report

However, you run the risk of distracting yourself (and others) from who the culprits are in this case (and in many others.)

U.S. Department of State: How the People’s Republic of China Amplifies Russian Disinformation

[Think. Again.]

12. I'll say...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218271995

[hunter]

8. I've seen transformers explode a few time in my life.

The most spectacular was when a Eucalyptus tree dropped a big branch onto a major power line. It knocked out the power to our neighborhood for about four hours. I watched the PG&E crews put it right, they were pros. The mistake was not recognizing the tree as a potential threat. I regard all Eucalyptus trees as a potential threat.

The most bizarre transformer explosion I witnessed was when we lived in a rough neighborhood and there was a Keystone Cops shootout with some local gangsters just across the street from our house. A stray bullet caused those fireworks. It took out the transformer supplying the strip mall the next street over.

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor

Big money people and politicians, who too often have little understanding of actual physical reality, be it engineering or science, are often the source of this stupidity.