Since the deadly earthquake that hit Haiti last Tuesday, social-networking sites have been flooded with news about the disaster and with requests for aid. But questions remain about the security of using the social Web as a fund-raising tool.

Cnet’s Matter/Anti-Matter blog points to the quake response as evidence of Twitter’s “growing power.” The service has clearly been a major source of news about the quake. But Matter/Anti-Matter and other blogs caution that the power comes with “new responsibilities.” Warnings about scams popped up soon after the quake and included both Twitter and Facebook, as well as efforts to promote donations through texting.

Even better-known charities working through social-networking sites have come under scrutiny. WSJ’s Speakeasy reported last week on one of the first celebrities to push for Haiti aid — musician Wyclef Jean, who headed to Twitter almost immediately after the quake to seek donations through his Yele foundation. Mr. Jean’s foundation has come under fire over the amount of money it actually spends on charity work. Mr. Jean has denied the allegations and continues to raise money for disaster relief, tweeting this morning that he would be on the Oprah Winfrey show to discuss the earthquake and providing updates on the effort in Haiti, including on a 6.1-magnitude aftershock that rocked the capital this morning.

Despite the controversy, charity efforts on Facebook and Twitter have grown by leaps and bounds this week, and it looks for now as though the sites will remain important tools for future relief work. Facebook’s Global Disaster Relief page, which was launched last week in response to the earthquake, now has more than 146,000 fans.

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