As wildfires rage, online conspiracies are adding fuel to the flames

Wildfire conspiracy theories may appear ridiculous, but they endanger public health, obstruct emergency response, and expose Canada’s failure to protect information integrity

No, the wildfires across the country were not started by the government to clear the way for lithium mines, or to frighten people in Canada into accepting climate policies. But this is what the social media rumour mill might lead you to believe. 

It would be easy to dismiss such claims as foolish distractions. But wildfire disinformation is not innocuous. It can obstruct emergency response, undermine confidence in public health warnings, and weaken support for the measures needed to prevent even greater suffering in the future.

Disinformation is not just exacerbating the wildfire emergency; it has become an emergency in itself.

By September, more than 4.5 million hectares had burned across Canada, and nearly 600 wildfires were still active. Over the summer, communities—many of them Indigenous and northern—faced evacuation, while smoke exposed millions of people across the continent to unhealthy air.

During wildfire season, accurate information is a public health intervention. Residents need to know whether to evacuate, where to find shelter, and how conditions are changing. They also need reliable warnings about wildfire smoke, which is linked to premature mortality, respiratory illness, and cardiovascular harm far beyond fire zones. On smoky days, this includes clear health guidance about how to stay safe, including staying indoors, running HEPA air purifiers, and wearing well-fitted N95 respirator masks when outside. 

But critical emergency and public health information is increasingly undermined by online disinformation. This wildfire season, false information about air quality and evacuation alerts, and misleading AI-generated images and maps of wildfires circulated widely. Meanwhile, conspiracy theories about arson, 15-minute cities, and weather manipulation proliferated online, portraying official communications as deceptive when clarity and public trust matter most. 

The risks extend far beyond the immediate emergency. Online disinformation sows doubt about the causes of wildfires, threatens society’s ability to respond effectively to climate change, and breeds distrust in democratic institutions.

While individual fires may be ignited by lightning, accidents, or deliberate acts, focusing on ignition misses the bigger picture. As the climate warms—driven by the combustion of coal, oil, and gas—Canada faces hotter, drier, and more combustible conditions, more than doubling the likelihood of extreme fire weather. The last three wildfire seasons rank among the 10 most destructive in Canadian history, with this year shaping up to be the fourth worst on record.

Disinformation obscures these connections. Arson and forest mismanagement are invoked to erase the role of climate change and reduce complex realities to politically useful stories. The pattern is documented: sow distrust about the fires’ causes, politicize the response, and move the discussion toward conspiracy theories and climate denial.

This is the result of the interaction between the fossil fuel economy and the rage economy. Fossil-fuel interests and allied political networks have long resisted climate action. Social media platforms, meanwhile, profit by keeping people engaged, a goal served well by a constant stream of mis- and disinformation. Algorithms tend to reward inflammatory and emotionally charged material because it spreads faster than a careful explanation of climate science, fire ecology, and public health.

The growing disinformation crisis is the predictable outcome of a largely deregulated information system. Social media companies control the algorithms that decide what billions of people see, but conceal how they work, what they amplify, and who profits from the spread.

Governments can no longer treat disinformation as an unavoidable feature of the internet. 

Social media companies should be required to create proactive digital safety plans to mitigate the risks of disinformation during emergencies, identify and report major disinformation trends, preserve data for independent research, and stop amplifying and monetizing debunked claims that threaten public safety. With Bill C-34 (the Safe Social Media Act, introduced in June), the government has an opportunity to tackle this challenge through safer design of online platforms. With each new wildfire season further eroding public trust and safety, it’s an opportunity we can’t afford to waste.

Governments may not be able to prevent every false claim, but they can help ensure accurate information reaches people in emergencies, require transparency from powerful platforms, and stop allowing profit from disinformation that costs lives and deepens harm.

Canada is fighting a wildfire emergency. It must also confront the information emergency spreading alongside it.

Ricardo Grinspun is a professor emeritus of economics at York University, and a member of Seniors for Climate Action Now!  

Dr. Samantha Green is a family physician in Toronto, and president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.

The Hill Times