Russian, Chinese and Cuban accounts are amplifying hurricane misinformation, US official says

By Andrea Shalal

Russian and Chinese-linked influence actors and the Cuban government have been amplifying misinformation following two deadly U.S. hurricanes, including false claims that the U.S. was denying disaster relief claims, a U.S. official said on Monday.

The U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, shared the assessment following a declassification of certain U.S. intelligence information. They disclosed no direct link to the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.

The White House and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have spoken out about a huge spike in misinformation surrounding relief efforts following Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene, that made it difficult for relief officials to do their jobs, and fueled criticism of the Biden administration.

Certain strands of that misinformation were repeated by some Republicans, drawing criticism from at least three congressional Republicans. But foreign actors also played a role in spreading the false claims, the U.S. official said.

The U.S. official said Russian hurricane-related misinformation on Telegram included an Oct. 10 image shared by state-owned news agency RIA that was likely generated by artificial intelligence to show a flooded Disney World.

That image was also shared by pro-Kremlin English-language accounts on an unnamed U.S. social media platform, the official said. Reuters this month reported that the fake Disney World images, which gained nearly half a million views worldwide, were clearly AI-generated.

Russian influence actors also used their social media accounts to spread other "provocative" hurricane-related content, such as an Oct. 9 post claiming the U.S. government was denying disaster relief claims, the U.S. official said.

Chinese-linked influence actors also circulated divisive hurricane-related material, including through a false social media posting that claimed U.S. spending on foreign conflicts had undermined support for disaster victims."The post included an image probably generated by AI portraying the Vice President (Kamala Harris) overlooking flood damage next to a sign saying that all of the United States’ money went to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan," the official said.

Cuba also amplified a posting which suggested that U.S. support for Israel and Ukraine had diverted resources from disaster relief efforts, echoing many of the same themes in Russian and Chinese social media messaging, the official said.