From FEMA: “An official points to damage from Hurricane Helene (in Washington County, Va.,, speaking with FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Timothy Pheil. Officials surveyed damage with staff from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Virginia National Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA.” ((Nicholas Monteleone/ FEMA)
We’re four weeks away from electing the country’s next commander-in-chief and Virginia’s representatives in the U.S. Senate and Congress, and in the wake of one of the most devastating hurricanes the Southeast has seen in years. It’s an especially bad moment to be spreading misinformation online.
It seems Rooz Dadabhoy has a poor sense of timing. Dadabhoy is the president of Rally Virginia, an organization that describes itself as “the home of the modern Republican woman,” a tech company CEO and a VCU Board of Visitors member appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Rooz Dadabhoy, president of Rally Virginia, a tech company CEO and a VCU Board of Visitors member appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, posted this tweet containing misinformation about FEMA funds on Oct. 5, 2024. The post was later deleted. (Screenshot)
“FEMA has spent hundreds of millions on its ‘Shelter and Services Program’ for ILLEGAL migrants this year—and it’s right there on FEMA’s own website. WHAT ABOUT HELPING OUR OWN CITIZENS???? Shame on HARRIS-BIDEN!!!” Dadabhoy’s now-deleted Oct. 5 tweet read. The post included a photo that appeared to show a teary-eyed, wet-haired little girl sitting on a boat, wearing a life jacket and clutching an equally-soaked puppy as another boat floats down a river in the background.
Most people who saw it, including me, immediately connected the picture to the water-logged Southeast now recovering from Hurricane Helene. Over 100 people died in the storm, and entire communities in hardest-hit North Carolina were washed away. There’s been significant flooding in Southwest Virginia, as The Mercury has reported, with at least 519 homes damaged or destroyed; two people have perished. That’s reality.
The photo in Dadabhoy’s tweet, however, is not. It’s an AI-generated image, which I was able to confirm in less than 15 minutes by running the photo through three different free AI detection tools online. She could have easily done the same — and should have — before sharing this fake photo.
Dadabhoy’s words are also not rooted in reality. The tweet implies that FEMA funds are being routed to undocumented migrants instead of American-born natural disaster victims, a false claim parroted by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and repeatedly debunked by FEMA in recent days.
“No money is being diverted from disaster response needs. FEMA’s disaster response efforts and individual assistance is funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts. Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts,” FEMA posted Oct. 3 on a page of its website especially dedicated to setting the record straight (that they felt compelled to do that is sad, in and of itself).
Not only is the misinformation Trump, Dadabhoy and countless others are pushing irresponsible, it’s downright dangerous.
“It is reducing the likelihood that survivors will come to FEMA with a trusted way to register for assistance,” Keith Turi, acting associate administrator for response and recovery at FEMA, told NPR yesterday.
Knowing all this, I asked Dadabhoy two questions: Were you aware when you made that tweet that FEMA has repeatedly debunked the false claim that disaster relief funds are being used to support undocumented immigrants? What did you hope to accomplish by tweeting that?
Dadabhoy replied that “I never implied that money is being diverted away from Hurricane Helene victims and being siphoned to illegal immigrants. I did not imply that. I did not even intend to imply that.”
I don’t believe that, and neither do the dozens of people who replied angrily to her tweet, some calling for her removal from VCU’s BOV. One person, unfortunately, replied by asking after the welfare of the AI child in the fake photo, showing the problem with spreading digital misinformation, even unintentionally: somebody will believe it.
Virginians in positions of public influence, and who have our governor’s support, should be dispelling Trumped-up, unproven claims — especially in the aftermath of a major natural disaster, when so many people still need help — not adding fuel to the rumor wildfires.
From FEMA: “Crews working to restore utilities and infrastructure damaged by Helene (in Washington County, Va.). (Nicholas Monteleone/ FEMA)
At a press gaggle Youngkin convened Tuesday morning to give updates on Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in Virginia, a reporter asked him what his administration was doing to counter misinformation concerning the storm and FEMA’s response, and referenced Dadabhoy’s tweet as an example of the problem.
“We are using, I think, the best process, which is to put people on the ground, answer questions directly, and speak to you all frequently, so that you can help us get out the word how to apply for help where it’s available, and most importantly, that we care and that we’re there, and there will be a better day tomorrow,” the governor replied, in part.
Youngkin is wise to lean into working with the media to spread the facts; it is an essential part of our role. And you, dear reader, can do your part to identify and stop the spread of misinformation, too. Here are a few tools, tailored to our concurrent election and hurricane seasons:
Perhaps ironically in the context of this column, VCU Libraries is offering an excellent information literacy campaign called #VetYourSources, including a lecture by author and info literacy expert Mike Caulfield, “Rumors of Theft: Navigating election integrity discourse online” on Oct. 15.
As mentioned above, FEMA’s “Hurricane Helene: Rumor Response” page offers just-the-fact-ma’am breakdowns of what’s real and what’s not when it comes to the agency’s response to Helene cleanup efforts, and answers questions about its funding for future emergencies.
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law’s primer on fact-checking is a great resource to help you learn “how to detect and guard against deceptive AI-generated election information.”
The Poynter Institute’s PolitiFact is a verifiable fact-checking machine, a nonpartisan platform with a robust process of analyzing claims by politicians and media “to give citizens the information they need to govern themselves in a democracy,” writes Angie Drobnic Holan, Politifact’s former editor-in-chief. They’ve got a special section focused on debunking misinformation, too.
It’s always a good day to stop the spread of dubious digital distortions. Tweet, post, read and share responsibly out there, folks.
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