Disney World remains unscathed by Hurricane Milton: debunking the flood of fake photos on social media.
Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, closed its operations on Wednesday night due to Hurricane Milton and tornadoes that emerged before the storm made landfall. However, if you have seen photos of the theme park completely flooded, Disney fans can rest assured. Those photos are completely false. But Russian state media, TikTok, and X are helping to spread them.
The Russian state media RIA posted on Thursday morning three images that appear to show Disney World submerged. “Social media users are posting photos of Disneyland in Florida flooded as a result of Hurricane Milton,” said the RIA account, according to an English translation.
Fake News
How do we know these images are fake? For starters, the buildings don’t match at all. If you compare, for example, how the surroundings of Cinderella Castle in Magic Kingdom look, you will notice that the buildings in the fake image are not there.
But you don’t even need to know what the real Cinderella Castle looks like to realize it’s fake. Just zoom in on the castle towers. They are not fully defined, and some are at very strange angles, making it clear that these images were generated by artificial intelligence.
The fake photos of Disney World were shared by right-wing influencer , a frequent spreader of misinformation, often retweeted by Musk himself. As a recent example, Nawfal contributed to a hoax about Jimmy Carter in July, which was shared by other figures like Laura Loomer and Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah. Nawfal’s tweet further helped spread the fake Disney photos on X before finally deleting them.
TikTok is also flooded with fake images
Videos were also shared on TikTok showing exaggerated images of the destruction at Disney World, such as one shared by user . The video seems to have been originally created as a joke by an account called , but it is being reposted and stripped of all context, taken seriously by a certain segment of the population.
BREAKING: Disney World DESTROYED By Hurricane Milton! Weatherman cries reporting Hurricane Milton is Now Category 5 Cat 5 Milton Update Stormsurge Evacuation Rescue
Some comments on the video include “I’m screaming, it’s the only place that made me feel like a child again” and “Well… maybe now they will show all the underground tunnels under Disney. Those who know… KNOW!”. The latter comment refers to the QAnon conspiracy theory claiming that children are being trafficked by powerful political figures and people like Oprah Winfrey and Tom Hanks. Incredibly, they believe that Donald Trump is going to save those children. Yes, that Donald Trump.
Even some AI-generated hurricane images created as a joke began to appear in various Russian news media. Like the image below showing Pluto in a life jacket carrying a child through floodwaters. The image seems to have been shared seriously by , crediting the image to Bretral Florida Tourism Oversight District, an X account dedicated to theme park jokes.
Another joke image shared by that account, Bretral Florida Tourism Oversight District, showed a photo of a boat stuck on a large mountain rock, which anyone familiar with Disney World will recognize as a permanent structure at the Typhoon Lagoon water park.
The sun is starting to rise in Florida.
Jesus Christ.
— Scott Walker (@scottwalker88)
Other X accounts were sharing QAnon theories, insisting that the destruction of Disney World could finally reveal the truth about child trafficking.
“Look at Mickey’s arms,” says a particularly strange tweet with an image of a Mickey Mouse clock. “Could they be showing a date? October 9th. The day the storm hit Disney World.
There are no coincidences.
The Military are clearing out the tunnels underneath. Used for human trafficking of children and other horrible crimes.
“Hurricane Milton hits Walt…
— Bendleruschka (@bendleruschka)
Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane, causing thousands of canceled flights, lashing homes and businesses with devastating winds, and killing at least nine people, according to NBC News, although that number is expected to increase as Floridians assess the damage.
Disney posted an update on its website on Thursday explaining that everything would reopen on Friday.
Disney World se prepara para reabrir
“Estamos agradecidos de que Walt Disney World Resort haya resistido la tormenta, y actualmente estamos evaluando los impactos en nuestra propiedad para prepararnos para la reapertura de los parques temáticos, Disney Springs y posiblemente otras áreas el viernes 11 de octubre. Nuestros corazones están con nuestros compañeros floridanos que fueron afectados por esta tormenta”, dice el .
Desinformación en redes sociales
Be cautious with information on social media
But whatever you do, don’t believe everything you read on social media without verifying with reliable sources. It is a ridiculous environment for misinformation right now. And it is likely to continue to be our reality in the foreseeable future.
Credits and source
This article has been translated from Gizmodo US by Lucas Handley. You can find the original version here.
