Mis-, dis-, and malinformation
MDM, as we will abbreviate it, can seem confusing at first. When assessing which term best fits, ask if something is true, whether it is politically motivated, and if there is harm or deceptive intent.
Disinformation
Information shared with the intent to mislead is disinformation. Disinformation is often used as a catch-all term for all false information, but we distinguish it from misinformation by the intent to deceive.
Misinformation
False or misleading information spread by someone who believes false information to be true is misinformation. The impact of disinformation and misinformation may be the same. Whether false or misleading information is shared intentionally determines which of these two terms it is.
Malinformation
The deliberate publication of private information for personal or private interest and the deliberate manipulation of genuine content. This is often done by moving private information or revealing information about an individual, taken out of context, into the public sphere.
What’s the difference between mis-, dis-, and malinformation?
Misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation, abbreviated as MDM, can initially seem confusing. Disinformation is often used as a catch-all term for all false information, but we distinguish it from misinformation by the intent to deceive. Malinformation is true or information not on the true-false spectrum.
To make the assessment easier, consider three things about a claim: how factually accurate it is, whether it's politically or selfishly motivated, and whether the person making a claim knows it's misleading or false.
Is this claim true?
- The fact-check explorer is a fact-check search engine.
- Political figures and private interests like the fossil fuel industry commonly use fake experts. Using many fake experts in multiple places creates the appearance of a debate--it's a fake debate.
- How has the source mitigated its bias?
Is the claim politically motivated?
- Partisan figures should rarely be used as a primary source.
- Every effort should be made to independently confirm their claims and their responses should be examined critically.
- Does the source want something from you, like support, donations, or a vote?
- Examples of broad claims that don’t hold up to scrutiny:
- All people who receive government support are lazy.
- Rich people don’t pay taxes.
- It was fair if I won the election; if I lost, it was rigged.
Is there evidence the source of information knows it's false or misleading?
- Did the person try to conceal or fail to disclose information that suggests they may not be forthcoming about the situation?
- Finding concrete evidence someone knows something is false can be hard, especially if we lack relevant expertise.
- The answer is simple regarding content from organizations known to be political operations.
Examples by type
Misinformation
False or misleading information spread by someone who believes the false information to be true. The impact of disinformation and misinformation can be the same. Whether false information is shared intentionally or not, it is still dangerous.
Examples of Misinformation
- A person who repeats a rumor that a celebrity has died, assuming the person sharing the rumor believes it and the celebrity has not died.
- A parent tells others that an illness that followed a vaccination was caused by the vaccine when the child fell ill coincidentally, and the illness was unrelated. The parent perceives the vaccine as the cause, even though it is not in this example.
- Someone without the needed background reads a highly specialized study and misunderstands the data. The person repeats the misunderstanding because they believe it.
Case studies
Disinformation
False or misleading information spread by someone who knows the information is false or misleading. Whether false or misleading information is shared intentionally determines whether it is categorized as mis- or disinformation.
Examples of Disinformation
- Russian state-controlled outlets RT and Sputnik began airing segments on 5G where its “correspondent,” Michele Greenstein, warned that 5G “might kill you.”
- The Independent reported that a network of accounts claimed that Covid-19 could have been imported to China from the United States through a batch of Maine lobsters shipped to a seafood market in Wuhan in November 2019. There is no evidence of this.
- In September 2020, a video that seemed to show ballot harvesting was released. The Election Integrity Partnership reported the video contained misleading and false claims.
More examples of disinformation
Malinformation
The deliberate publication of private or privileged information to manipulate public perception, often for private interests or political gain, or intimidating the individual.
Malinformation is often information about an individual or group, taken out of context, into the public sphere, but it also includes information that doesn't fall on the true-false spectrum. Examples include hate speech, targeted harassment, and manipulative speculation about the future.
Examples of Malinformation
- Russian agents hacked into emails from the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign and leaked certain details to the public to damage reputations.
- Classified U.S.-UK trade documents leaked ahead of Britain’s 2019 election were stolen from the email account of former trade minister Liam Fox by suspected Russian hackers, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
- The 2021 Epik leak: unnamed hackers leaked 180+ gigabytes containing information related to some of the most controversial websites, like those belonging to extremists.
More about malinformation
Malinformation is true- or information that does not exist on the true-false spectrum, so handling it can be complicated. Historically, journalists have sought to find out if the information was true before publishing. Now, journalists must consider the intentions behind hacked or stolen private information.
Not considering aspects beyond whether the information is true may make one an unwitting accomplice in an information operation. Source hacking was one of the original tactics used to spread mal- and disinformation, especially before social media. All “leaks” are not malinformation because every so often, the content is a forgery being passed off as authentic content. Such an example would be disinformation since the content is false or misleading.
Comparing information-type traits
Info = information; Misinfo = misinformation; Disinfo = disinformation; Malinfo = malinformation