Welcome to The Hill's Technology newsletter {beacon} Technology Technology   The Big Story  Storm misinformation stokes election fears The flood of conspiracy theories and rumors amid the severe weather in the South is sparking concerns that political figures’ embrace of misinformation is just the beginning. © AP Photo/Matt Rourke The storm devastation in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina captured the attention of Americans across the country. With that spotlight came a deluge of false claims and conspiracy theories about the extreme weather and recovery efforts.     Former President Trump helped fuel a storm of misinformation this month when he baselessly claimed the government purposely withheld aid from Republican hurricane victims.   The uptick in misinformation just weeks ahead of the election is no coincidence, misinformation experts suggested.     “It’s no accident that we’re seeing a lot of misinformation now just because we’re a month from the election people are expecting to be very close, and so candidates are using everything they can to try and sway those undecided voters,” Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said.    Voters and election watchers were already attuned to the potential for misinformation given long-lasting falsehoods over the 2020 election and efforts by foreign adversaries to influence this year’s race.     The persistent concerns come as Trump — the Republican presidential nominee — continues to baselessly claim the 2020 election was fraudulently decided in President Biden’s favor, despite several recounts and investigations.    FEMA refuted the former president's claims last week, while several elected officials — including Republicans — called on Trump and other online users to stop spreading misinformation as it hindered the recovery process.     In some cases, misinformation sparked calls for violence against FEMA personnel, progressive watchdog Media Matters said in an analysis last week.     One post on TikTok said FEMA employees should be “arrested or shot or hung on sight,” according to the report.     These videos have amassed hundreds of thousands of views, though TikTok said it has since removed the posts flagged in the report.     Abbie Richards, the misinformation researcher behind the report, told The Hill the violent rhetoric follows years of misinformation sowing distrust in the government.     “Political leaders and our information ecosystem have created belief systems in people where they feel like they cannot trust, like parts of the government and also parts of the government that are doing some of the most helpful work,” she said, pointing to election and disaster response officials.     The contentious rhetoric surrounding FEMA reached a boiling point over the weekend when North Carolina officials announced the agency temporarily paused aid in parts of the state in the wake of reported threats against those assisting in recovery efforts.     “We are stewing in even more politicization and misinformation than unusual when you’re three weeks away from an election and everybody’s trying to turn any new event into part of their political campaign. So, it’s hard to separate them,” she added.     Read more at TheHill.com.   Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we're Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.   Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.   Essential Reads  How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:   Russia, China collaborating with criminal networks in cyberattacks against adversaries: Microsoft  Russia, China and Iran are increasingly collaborating with cybercrime networks to launch a variety of attacks against their adversaries, including the U.S., Microsoft said in a Tuesday report. The attacks, ranging from ransomware to phishing, were carried out for “espionage, destruction or influence” and involved cybercrime gangs working with these nations to share hacking tools and tactics, Microsoft said in its new Digital …  Full Story   Trump says he likes Mark Zuckerberg ‘much better now’ Former President Trump said he likes Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg “much better now,” as the head of Facebook and Instagram increasingly looks to stay out of politics.  “I actually believe he’s staying out of the election, which is nice,” Trump said in an interview on the latest episode of the Barstool Sports podcast “Bussin’ With The Boys” released Tuesday.  Trump and Zuckerberg have had a contentious relationship since …  Full Story   Journalist says FBI visited after he published hacked Vance document An independent journalist says he was visited by the FBI after he published material allegedly obtained through an Iranian hack of former President Trump’s campaign.  “The Bureau told me that I had been the target of a foreign influence operation with regard to a news article I had written, a clear reference to my publication of the JD Vance Dossier,” journalist Ken Klippenstein wrote on his Substack page of the …  Full Story   The Refresh  News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:   US considers capping AI chip sales The Biden administration is considering restricting the sale of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips from companies like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to countries beyond China, Bloomberg reported.   Chipmaker to receive $750M in grants Wolfspeed, which makes silicon carbide chips popular with electric vehicle companies, will receive $750 million in grants from the CHIPS and Science Act for a new North Carolina plant, Reuters reported.   On Our Radar  Upcoming news themes and events we're watching: The Consumer Technology Association will host a conversation with FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.   What Others are Reading  Two key stories on The Hill right now: Harris signals new willingness to take risks as polls tighten Vice President Harris is set to participate in a high-stakes interview with Fox News, an indication her campaign is willing to take more risks as polls … Read more Judge mulls new Georgia election rules, including ballot hand-count A Georgia judge must decide whether to squash new state election rules, including a controversial change requiring hand-counted verification of ballots, … Read more   What Others are Reading  Opinion related to tech submitted to The Hill: In-office work mandates are really all about control, not efficiency or value     You're all caught up. 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