How a YouTube channel about farming transitioned to misinformation about doomsday prepping

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Poynter
According to YouTuber Patrick Humphrey, the country is collapsing, and everyone needs to prepare. His online account chronicled a summer filled with cascading calamities.

He claimed “two massive explosions on U.S. critical infrastructure” on July 26 caused power outages. He said July 29 that in an official statement, the White House had urged people to brace “for something big to happen, potentially to our critical infrastructure.” On Aug. 7, Humphrey alleged the federal government had declared a “major food shortage emergency” in six states.

But when PolitiFact took a closer look into Humphrey’s claims, we rated each one False. We found no large explosions, no warning about an imminent attack and no food shortage declared.

Nearly every week, Humphrey posts new videos that stoke fear of impending disaster or claim that a catastrophe has already happened, a tactic linked to doomsday prepping that has rapidly increased his audience. As of late August, he had more than 91,000 YouTube subscribers, a significant increase from the 6,000-subscriber milestone he celebrated just one year ago.

Humphey’s videos employ a misinformation tactic experts say is common: He refers to real events, but sensationalizes and presents them without important context, which misleads viewers or pushes them toward false conclusions. His videos also have been shared across other social media sites such as TikTok and Facebook, amplifying his reach and contributing to the spread of the misinformation. Efforts to reach Humphrey via email addresses listed on his YouTube channel and the contact page of his website were unsuccessful. MORE