In a press briefing Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that Federal Emergency Management Agency officials were being targeted for harassment online. Veuer’s Matt Hoffman has the story.
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00:00As the Biden administration deals with the aftermath of multiple major storms,
00:03it says it's also fighting against misinformation and harassment.
00:07In a press briefing Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that federal
00:11emergency management agency officials were being targeted online.
00:15We are seeing horrific hate speech of all types propagated on online platforms.
00:24That deplorable speech has an impact on people's lives.
00:29FEMA's response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton has been a major subject of much
00:33of the misinformation spread in the wake of the storms,
00:36much of it disseminated by Republican politicians.
00:38Perhaps the most attention-grabbing claims have been Florida Congresswoman
00:42Marjorie Taylor Greene's insistence that someone is controlling the weather.
00:45But CNN reports that former President Trump has also been spreading lies,
00:49including that President Biden has been ignoring calls from Georgia Governor Brian Kemp,
00:53and that FEMA is providing no more than $750 for people who have lost their homes.
00:58FEMA has set up a hurricane rumor response page to combat misinformation, but it remains to be
01:03seen how effective such responses are against provocative lies and the anger that comes with
01:08them.