Los Angeles Wildfires: Disinformation Campaigns Target Diversity and Leadership Amidst Climate Crisis
The devastating wildfires currently ravaging Los Angeles, fueled by months of dry weather and powerful Santa Ana winds, have become the latest target of online disinformation campaigns. While firefighters battle the blazes and residents flee their homes, social media platforms are ablaze with false narratives that shift blame away from climate change and onto "liberal" policies, particularly those promoting diversity and inclusion within the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).
These disinformation narratives have coalesced around LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley, the department’s first female and openly LGBTQ+ leader. Social media posts, including one from the influential anti-LGBTQ+ account Libs of TikTok, have questioned Chief Crowley’s focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, suggesting that these efforts have somehow compromised the department’s ability to respond to the fires. This sentiment was amplified by X owner Elon Musk, who echoed the unfounded claim that DEI initiatives were prioritized over saving lives and property.
Experts in disinformation and extremism recognize this pattern. Similar narratives emerged following the Maui wildfires in 2023 and hurricanes Milton and Helene in 2024. These narratives consistently attempt to undermine the credibility and effectiveness of first responders in the wake of natural disasters, often targeting individuals based on their identity or political affiliation. This trend, observed by Sara Aniano, a disinformation analyst at the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism, indicates an increasing mainstreaming of such harmful rhetoric.
Adding fuel to the fire, former President Donald Trump weighed in on the situation, criticizing California Governor Gavin Newsom’s water management policies. Trump’s claims, disseminated on his Truth Social platform, falsely suggested that Newsom was withholding water from Southern California, echoing long-standing misleading narratives about the state’s water supply. President Joe Biden publicly countered Trump’s accusations, emphasizing the need for factual accuracy and non-partisan cooperation in addressing the crisis. He stressed that the fires are not a political issue and require a unified response.
Trump’s rhetoric extended to blaming environmentalists for the water shortage, specifically citing efforts to protect the Delta smelt, a small fish whose habitat is hundreds of miles from the affected areas. These assertions, along with the attacks on Chief Crowley and the LAFD, serve to distract from the well-established factors contributing to the wildfires, including the Santa Ana winds and the long-term impacts of climate change. Scientists have repeatedly warned that human-induced climate change is exacerbating weather patterns and intensifying wildfire risks in the western United States.
The specific conditions leading to these devastating fires include a two-decade drought followed by two unusually wet years, resulting in abundant vegetation growth. This was followed by eight months of virtually no rainfall, creating an environment ripe for ignition. Nearly 180,000 residents remain under evacuation orders, and the death toll continues to rise. Authorities are investigating the causes of the Palisades and Eaton fires, the two largest blazes, but have found no evidence to support the circulating social media theories blaming the homeless population or “eco-terrorists.”
Experts warn that these false narratives not only undermine public trust in institutions but also hinder recovery efforts. Sarah Labowitz, a climate and geopolitics expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, emphasizes that such disinformation "undercuts the people and organizations trying to help" and "sows division within the community," creating obstacles to effective disaster response and community resilience. The spread of misinformation diverts attention and resources away from the critical task of addressing the underlying causes of these increasingly frequent and intense wildfires, including the urgent need to mitigate the effects of climate change. The focus should be on supporting the firefighters on the front lines, assisting impacted communities, and implementing long-term strategies for fire prevention and adaptation in a changing climate, not on scapegoating and spreading unfounded accusations.
