Russia, China and Cuba spread misinformation about US hurricane response, US official says

CNN —

Russian, Chinese and Cuban operatives all spread misinformation about US government hurricane relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, a US official said Monday, citing recent US intelligence.

A China-linked social media account used a likely AI-generated image of Vice President Kamala Harris overlooking flood damage next to a sign falsely claiming that “all of the United States’ money went to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan,” the US official said in a statement to CNN.

Meanwhile, a Russian state-owned news agency shared a likely AI-generated image on the social media platform Telegram depicting a flooded Disney World, the official said. Russian operatives have also spread other “provocative hurricane-related content,” including some suggesting the US government was denying people disaster-relief funds.

Cuba has “amplified narratives” suggesting that US support for Israel and Ukraine has diverted resources from disaster relief efforts, echoing some of the same themes as Russia and China, according to the US official.

CNN has asked the Cuban, Chinese and Russian embassies in Washington for comment.

It’s the clearest statement yet from the US government that foreign powers have spread false information about the two hurricanes that hit the US in September and October. Much of the false information about the federal response to the hurricanes has been spread by Americans, including the billionaire Elon Musk, who owns the social media platform X. False claims that relief funds were being given to migrants, for example, have gone viral.

But covert foreign activity like what the US official described can further amplify the information to reach additional online users. US officials have been