CNN Works with TikTok to Fact Check Maui Fire

Devastated residents of Lahaina are searching for answers two weeks after wildfires destroyed the coastal city northwest of Hawaii.




“A slew of viral conspiracy videos on social media have made baseless claims that the Maui wildfires were started intentionally as part of a land grab,” CNN reported.


“Smart climate change. It stops where the millionaires mansions begins,” David Vance wrote as he reposted an aerial video of the devastation that has been seen over 400 thousand times


The video shows lavish properties that escaped the disaster in Lahaina.


CNN is working to crackdown on conspiracy theories that have questioned the origin of the fire and the alleged negligence by local officials that could have prevented loss of life.


“TikTok removed several conspiracy theory videos sent by CNN that were in violation of its community guidelines, which it characterizes as “inaccurate, misleading, or false content that may cause significant harm to individuals or society.”


Nerdy Addict shared a CTV News story on X that reportedly shows the start of the fire.


“Downed power lines may have sparked the whole tragedy,” CTV News said. The Associated Press reported that “In the first moments of the Maui fires, when high winds brought down power poles, slapping electrified wires to the dry grass below, there was a reason the flames erupted all at once in long, neat rows -- those wires were bare, uninsulated metal that could spark on contact. Hawaiian Electric faces criticism for not shutting off the power amid high wind warnings and keeping it on even as dozens of poles began to topple.”

CNN also reported that the head Administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency Herman Andaya, who faced criticism for not activating warning sirens as the fire spread, resigned citing health reasons.

“Nobody at the state and nobody at the county attempted to activate those sirens based on our records,” Maui Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Adam Weintraub said.

Andaya said in a press conference that the sirens were not designed to warn residents in the event of a wildfire. 

“The public is trained to seek higher ground in the event that the siren is sounded,” Andaya said. “Had we sounded the siren that night, we’re afraid that people would have gone mauka (inland), and if that was the case they would have gone into the fire.”

Human Dilemma shared a recent interview with Dr. David Martin on the Man in America Podcast on X that questioned the origin of the Maui wildfire and recent wildfires in Canada and Europe.

“As much as Maui may or may not be the sum of a series of electrical failures, there is no question that power systems in Maui were not managed to diminish the risk of fire. We will not say, and I will not say they necessarily intentionally set them, I’m not going to get into that conversation. What I will say is that very simple safety protocols, like if lines are down don’t send energy back into a down line, those kinds of things were not done. So were some of those fires without question at least negligent set? The answer is without question.”

 Martin claims that the Canadian wildfires will lead to government reappropriation of land.

“It’s about reappropriating land,” Martin said, “and the best way to reappropriate land is to have a fire. That has been the case since the Old Testament. When humans cannot win on a fair playing field, they use fire.”

It’s this type of hands-off rhetoric that CNN is actively working to remove from social media platforms. Martin presents information that draws the listener to conclude foul play is at hand, while also denying any belief in said conclusions. 

“I’ve never seen a situation like this really in America where you’re now three weeks into this and you can’t get the most basic information of what happened out there,” Steve Bannon said on the War Room. “That destruction looks like the Tokyo fire bombing in 1945 which was low level napalm. There’s something not right here.”

Hawaiian officials are voicing concern about the victims who are still missing and the lack of accountability from the FBI.

“I know people that are talking about starting marches,” Hawaii Precinct Committee Member Nolan Chang said. 

As the ATF moved in for an official investigation into the cause of the fires, CNN reports that an attorney for Hawaiian Electric said that “some potential evidence may have already been compromised during the firefight, not by the utility itself, but by others.”

 CNN reported that “While the investigation continues, Maui County officials made their position clear in a lawsuit filed Thursday, claiming “the negligence, carelessness, and recklessness, and/or unlawfulness” of Hawaiian Electric Company and its subsidiaries is directly responsible for the fires.”

The lack of warning sirens, police blockades of exit roads, withholding of water by city officials to fight the flames, confusion of the official death count, lack of wireless internet access, and the poor response from FEMA are questions the public needs answers for Dave Hodges said on The Common Sense Show.


“This should have been enough to have Americans across the country in the streets at least protesting on behalf of these people and their treatment,” Hodges said. 

The extent of CNN’s work to remove misinformation from TikTok remains unclear. It is unknown how long CNN has been reporting misinformation by users directly to social media platforms, and whether they at as a third party anonymously flagging content or directly with TikTok staff.

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