Hawaii fires deliberately lit

An Aug. It goes on to make an array of other claims, about school being canceled, alarms not sounding, hawaii fires deliberately lit, phone alert systems not being used, donations being confiscated and officials denying aid to those who were "not compliant. The post garnered more than likes in five days. Other versions of the post continue to circulate on Instagram.

Social media users have blamed figures like Elon Musk and Oprah Winfrey for starting the blazes, which have killed at least people. These theories have had devastating real-world impacts, including the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, in which a white supremacist killed 23 people and injured 22 others and cited the great replacement theory as motivation. Experts say the spread of such theories can be attributed to the algorithms central to tech platforms, which prioritize content that receives more engagement. In some cases, platforms inadvertently prioritize such content. An email to Twitter, now known as X, received an automated response.

Hawaii fires deliberately lit

Homes consumed in recent wildfires are seen in Lahaina, Hawaii, Wednesday, Aug. The Associated Press on Wednesday, Aug. It also takes place on another Hawaiian island, not Maui. Many are attempting to connect the dots between the deadliest blaze in the country in more than a century to efforts to incorporate digital and renewable energy technologies into everyday life. The conferences in Hawaii, meanwhile, are broad in scope and not focused solely on smart cities, minute cities, Maui or even the state of Hawaii. At the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences in January, thousands of researchers presented their work on a wide range of information technology issues, not just on smart city-type concepts, explained Tung Bui, an IT professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa who chairs the conference. About a dozen were related to smart cities, and none were focused on Maui. Philip Bertolini, a senior vice president at e. The annual gathering marks its 13th year in Honolulu, the state capital on the island of Oahu. Some posts also falsely conflate a program called JumpStartMaui with the two conferences. Learn more about fact-checking at AP. Election Fact Check.

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It's yet to be determined what exactly ignited the ferocious wildfires that ravaged Maui and destroyed much of the historic town of Lahaina last week, but online conspiracy theorists have plenty of thoughts about how — and why — the deadliest fires in Hawaii's history were started. Conditions were already ripe for wildfires, with a combination of persistent dry weather and drought, when Maui was hit with powerful winds on Aug. But the tragedy has spurred social media posts that would have you believe that it was a laser beam from space that sparked the devastating blaze or that the disaster may be a part of a land grab or a sinister ploy to develop a minute city on the tropical island — familiar conspiracy theories that have thrived in times of disaster. There is no proof any of these are true — often they can easily be debunked — but theories like these can thrive in times of uncertainty after a disaster strikes, say experts, as people try to make sense of a tense and emotional situation and anxiously look for a cause to pinpoint. But wildfires in particular, she said, present a unique opportunity for rumours and false narratives to spread. The wildfires damaged or destroyed more than 2, buildings in Maui and left thousands of people displaced.

Social media users have blamed figures like Elon Musk and Oprah Winfrey for starting the blazes, which have killed at least people. These theories have had devastating real-world impacts, including the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, in which a white supremacist killed 23 people and injured 22 others and cited the great replacement theory as motivation. Experts say the spread of such theories can be attributed to the algorithms central to tech platforms, which prioritize content that receives more engagement. In some cases, platforms inadvertently prioritize such content. An email to Twitter, now known as X, received an automated response. A spokesman confirmed the platform had removed five videos flagged by the Guardian that contained misinformation about the Maui fires.

Hawaii fires deliberately lit

Hawaii officials said Aug. Dry conditions, combined with low humidity and high winds, set the stage for the fires to spread, Maj. We found multiple social media posts using the same image to make similar claims about a laser beam starting the Hawaii fires. Direct energy weapons are real — such as lasers, radio frequency devices and high-powered microwaves — and the U.

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Share your feedback to help improve our site! Another user, claiming to be a resident of Hawaii, says in her viral video the Hawaii government wants Maui to become the first smart island and have the entire island governed by Artificial Intelligence. Conclusion: All the images and videos presented as evidence that DEW attacks caused the August wildfires in Maui are false. The streak of light, known as a "light pillar", is an optical illusion formed by reflections off ice crystals on a cold day. In focus. Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks. That post - which has been seen more than 24 million times - has been challenged by X's Community Notes feature, where users add context and facts around viral content. The idea that solar energy could be beamed from satellites in space back to Earth's surface, for example, is something that has been explored for a number of years, Rothschild said, but using radio waves or microwaves , not lasers. Kushel HM. Marcelo is a general assignment reporter in the NYC bureau.

This combination of photos provided by Travis Secrest, a resident of Perry Township in Ohio, shows a flame at the Marathon Petroleum refinery in the winter of

Press Releases. Read more. Both images are unrelated to the wildfires and are actually from events dating back to X had not responded to a request for comment as of Monday 14 August. Here's how you can tackle it. Apparently, this beam was captured before the Hawaii fires. Fact Check category Fact Check: These Walmart portable toilets are for building works, not migrant camp February 23, It shows a light beam connecting the ground and sky, with smoke at the bottom. Home U. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill out the form. About a dozen were related to smart cities, and none were focused on Maui.