HONESDALE, PA — The River Reporter has received many recent reports from readers who—without offering evidence other than anonymous social media posts and unsubstantiated rumor—insist that significant numbers of migrants have taken up residence in Wayne County: living in Honesdale hotels, camping along riverbanks, and breaking into local homes.

None of this is true.

The Pennsylvania State Police said there was one instance of a migrant stopped in the county.

“I would like to clarify that there was indeed one migrant of Asian descent who was apprehended approximately three weeks ago in the vicinity of Weniger Hill Road, north of Honesdale,” Trooper Robert Urban wrote in an email to the River Reporter on Thursday. “The Pennsylvania State Police in Honesdale handled the situation appropriately.”

But all the wild rumors are false, he said.

“It’s important to note that other claims circulating on social media platforms such as Facebook are unsubstantiated,” Urban wrote. “We have not received any reports of individuals residing in tents, breaking into homes, or behaving suspiciously in hotels within Wayne County. We strongly encourage residents to promptly contact 911 if they observe any trespassing on their property, enabling appropriate action to be taken.”

The Honesdale Borough Police also told the River Reporter this week there are no migrants living in large numbers or associated criminal activity in the borough.

How misinformation spreads

The rumors were amplified on the Facebook page Neighbors Helping Neighbors Wayne County, Pike County, and Surrounding Area with a post.

“We have to get this point through to people in Wayne County,” the false, anonymous post begins. “Five illegals were just apprehended over by Wetmore’s farm and they’re pitching tents over at Skinner’s falls.”

It’s filled with innuendo and sketchy sourcing:

“And as per one of my informants...”

“We were talking to a resident....”

“They were told not to talk about it...”

“I’ve come to find from two young ladies that were in the park the other night when my two grandchildren were there....”

Misinformation spreads rapidly on platforms like Twitter and Facebook, and sensational lies often get more likes, shares, and comments than truthful content, according to a study by the Integrity Institute. And since social media algorithms prioritize posts with more engagement, they spread more widely.

Another factor is confirmation bias. “If a tweet is retweeted, favorited, or replied to by enough of its first viewers, the newsfeed algorithm will show it to more users, at which point it will tap into the biases of those users too—prompting even more engagement, and so on,” according to Lawfare, a non-partisan publication dedicated to national security issues. “At its worst, this cycle can turn social media into a kind of confirmation bias machine, one perfectly tailored for the spread of misinformation.”

This cycle tends to escalate during presidential election years when subjects like immigration are hotly debated.