In the aftermath of a devastating fire in Tai Po, government officials and political figures have raised alarms about potential attempts to undermine national security amidst the ongoing disaster relief efforts. 

A political figure commented on the remarkable displays of community solidarity, with citizens contributing supplies and funds to support those affected. However, the scenes of unity were reportedly exploited by individuals harboring anti-government sentiments, who seized the opportunity to incite discord. 

"More malicious attacks on the government's rescue efforts began appearing online, especially targeting the distribution of relief supplies," the figure stated, indicating a deliberate campaign to disrupt the recovery process and create further division within the community.

As allegations targeting the care teams emerged, accusing them of hoarding supplies, social media platforms became battlegrounds for misinformation campaigns. 

Reports surfaced of someone using a loudhailer to incite locals against the support teams, claiming they were reporting residents for unlawful assembly.

Someone used a loudspeaker to call on people not to let the care team assist at a supply station.

More clearly ill-intentioned comments kept appearing online. 

"For example, in the comment sections of some live streams about the fire, some people inexplicably left messages in simplified Chinese reading 'Long live China'; others used similar tactics by posting under disaster-relief posts to deliberately push Legislative Council election promotion, attempting to mislead the public into thinking pro-establishment figures are promoting the election while ignoring the disaster," the political figure analyzed.

"Some people launched propaganda saying 'Bamboo Scaffolding Is Innocent,' followed by images and false claims criticizing the government related to the scaffolding narrative -- guiding public opinion to target and criticize the authorities," the figure said, noting that the online sphere was filled with an atmosphere strikingly similar to that during anti-extradition bill turmoil in 2019.