Summary: Mis/disinformation has long predated the rise of social media, but today’s social platforms serve as powerful amplifiers, presenting critical challenges for disaster management. Effective disaster response and mass vaccination campaigns, for instance, depend on public trust—a foundation that is easily undermined by misleading or harmful narratives amplified on social media. This presentation examines specific instances in which social media has impacted disaster response, highlighting the challenges of ensuring accurate, unbiased messaging. While social media can play a valuable role in crisis communication, it must be carefully managed to remain free from political bias and readily understandable to all audiences. Without proper oversight and an emphasis on factual information, the rapid spread of mis/disinformation during disasters poses heightened risks, especially to marginalized communities.
Rizek et al. (Sun,) studied this question.