2024届高考英语外刊阅读天天练阅读理解五

高考英语外刊阅读天天练：阅读理解模拟训练五 ① In the aftermath of the devastating wildfires in Maui, misinformation and conspiracy theories have spread online, underscoring the shortcomings of social media firms’ enforcement policies following disasters. Conspiracy theories including that the fire was started intentionally by a secret “energy weapon” and that a shadowy cabal of global elites set the blazes purposefully to clear the land for their own nefarious uses have gained popularity. The trend draws on existing far-right tropes that global-minded organizations such as the United Nations and the World Economic Forum are plotting to forcibly move people into “smart cities” where their freedoms will be severely curtailed by advanced technologies. Social media users have blamed figures like Elon Musk and Oprah Winfrey for starting the blazes, which have killed at least 111 people. “What they don’t talk about is in January how they had in Maui a smart city conference to turn Maui into an entire smart island, changing everything to electric, renewables, solar panels and pushing everybody into electric vehicles – 15-minute smart cities,” a man says in one widely shared video. Experts say the spread of such theories can be attributed to the algorithms central to tech platforms, which prioritize content that receives more engagement.“We know companies like Meta weigh the most important material on the platforms based on engagement, which often tends to be either vitriolic content, conspiratorial content or something that’s controversial,” said Katie Paul, director of the Tech Transparency Project (TTP). “After disasters, when there is a lot of online content related to a particular event, these mechanisms help to amplify some of that harmful content above more authoritative sources.” Meanwhile, the conspiracy theories have become so widespread that Hawaiian officials have addressed them, with the office of governor Josh Green saying in a statement, “there is no truth to the horrendous asse