In the wake of Hurricane Helene’s devastation in the southeastern U.S., misinformation and conspiracy theories have stirred up calls for violence and mass mobilization against Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel on TikTok, in posts which have garnered millions of views.
Misinformation about the response to Helene — ranging from accusations that FEMA is failing to mobilize resources to hard-hit areas to conspiracy theories that the government controls the weather — has surged across social media platforms in the past several weeks, including on TikTok.
Media Matters has found multiple TikTok posts calling for violence against FEMA employees, including posts saying that “the charge will be TREASON” and that they should be “arrested or shot or hung on sight” amid false claims that FEMA is blocking aid to hard-hit areas.
One video with over 204,000 views threatens FEMA employees, saying, “Dear Feds and Fema… If you’re trying to deny people access to help in the affected area, be advised. We’re still under the War on Terror emergency declaration, if you violate your constitutional oath to protect and assist, the charge will be TREASON. Punishment can mean being unalived immediately by the citizens you are withholding aid from.”
9-11GaveMe5G on
Threatening federal employees in their line of duty is a great way to catch some federal prison time
dormidormit on
This is why Tik-Tok is a threat to Americans, the American government, and why it is a *weapon* designed by China for use against us. Chinese algorithms, created by Chinese state-sponsored actors and Chinese information officers, are convincing Americans to shoot at Federal govt employees. This isn’t ok. This needs to be banned.
DeuceGnarly on
Right. That’s what republicans do. They work up a bunch of crazy, ignorant people, tell them everything sucks, and that they need to vote republican because everyone else is literally satanic weather controlling communists jews.
And if you tell them it’s irresponsible, and the party should shut it down, a few of them might agree but they don’t actually do anything about it, because they know the violence will only help them seize control of the government, and they can build a white supremacist theocracy / oligarchy out of it.
Fearless-Incident515 on
What the fuck is happening in this country? How do we have politicians that are this irresponsible?
onceinawhile222 on
People leave their homes to help people who have lost everything. They don’t come to steal supplies or stand in the way of local efforts. This is the stupidest example I have ever seen of no good deed goes unpunished.
CurrentlyLucid on
trump has lied to the stupidest people on earth, and they see him as god. Yeah, probably gonna be trouble.
Oprofessorfps on
Incredible, where did they get their disinformation? Republican politics over country and needy. Sad.
Taki_Minase on
Dikkok Should be banned.
getSome010 on
So TikTok is being used as a weapon. Ban it. For good
DifferentMeeting9793 on
I saw an official looking notice being spread on Tiktok saying that “We the American people declare FEMA to be an enemy of the American people and if FEMA agents are caught trying to delay aid to those in need the charge is treason and it will be dealt with immediately via shooting or hanging.” It was stamped with an official looking seal, and some whackjob sovereign citizen in Alaska signed off on the note.
I reported it as they were directly threatening FEMA personnel using a fake official document, and of course, TikTok moderation found no issues with it. And kept the post up.
Same with people giving tips on how to shoot down army helicopters that were delivering supplies. One apparently flew too close to a supply area, and things were being blown around before it pulled away. The comments were filled with tips on where exactly to shoot to bring the helicopter down. Of course, again, Tiktok wouldn’t remove those comments.
huu11 on
TikTok isn’t the only platform people are spreading misinformation. Just look at Facebook
12 Comments
In the wake of Hurricane Helene’s devastation in the southeastern U.S., misinformation and conspiracy theories have stirred up calls for violence and mass mobilization against Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel on TikTok, in posts which have garnered millions of views.
Misinformation about the response to Helene — ranging from accusations that FEMA is failing to mobilize resources to hard-hit areas to conspiracy theories that the government controls the weather — has surged across social media platforms in the past several weeks, including on TikTok.
Media Matters has found multiple TikTok posts calling for violence against FEMA employees, including posts saying that “the charge will be TREASON” and that they should be “arrested or shot or hung on sight” amid false claims that FEMA is blocking aid to hard-hit areas.
One video with over 204,000 views threatens FEMA employees, saying, “Dear Feds and Fema… If you’re trying to deny people access to help in the affected area, be advised. We’re still under the War on Terror emergency declaration, if you violate your constitutional oath to protect and assist, the charge will be TREASON. Punishment can mean being unalived immediately by the citizens you are withholding aid from.”
Threatening federal employees in their line of duty is a great way to catch some federal prison time
This is why Tik-Tok is a threat to Americans, the American government, and why it is a *weapon* designed by China for use against us. Chinese algorithms, created by Chinese state-sponsored actors and Chinese information officers, are convincing Americans to shoot at Federal govt employees. This isn’t ok. This needs to be banned.
Right. That’s what republicans do. They work up a bunch of crazy, ignorant people, tell them everything sucks, and that they need to vote republican because everyone else is literally satanic weather controlling communists jews.
And if you tell them it’s irresponsible, and the party should shut it down, a few of them might agree but they don’t actually do anything about it, because they know the violence will only help them seize control of the government, and they can build a white supremacist theocracy / oligarchy out of it.
What the fuck is happening in this country? How do we have politicians that are this irresponsible?
People leave their homes to help people who have lost everything. They don’t come to steal supplies or stand in the way of local efforts. This is the stupidest example I have ever seen of no good deed goes unpunished.
trump has lied to the stupidest people on earth, and they see him as god. Yeah, probably gonna be trouble.
Incredible, where did they get their disinformation? Republican politics over country and needy. Sad.
Dikkok Should be banned.
So TikTok is being used as a weapon. Ban it. For good
I saw an official looking notice being spread on Tiktok saying that “We the American people declare FEMA to be an enemy of the American people and if FEMA agents are caught trying to delay aid to those in need the charge is treason and it will be dealt with immediately via shooting or hanging.” It was stamped with an official looking seal, and some whackjob sovereign citizen in Alaska signed off on the note.
I reported it as they were directly threatening FEMA personnel using a fake official document, and of course, TikTok moderation found no issues with it. And kept the post up.
Same with people giving tips on how to shoot down army helicopters that were delivering supplies. One apparently flew too close to a supply area, and things were being blown around before it pulled away. The comments were filled with tips on where exactly to shoot to bring the helicopter down. Of course, again, Tiktok wouldn’t remove those comments.
TikTok isn’t the only platform people are spreading misinformation. Just look at Facebook