LibGuides: Information and Media Literacy: How to Spot the Good, the Bad, and the Just Plain Ugly: The Ugly: Disinformation

What Is Disinformation?

Misinformation and disinformation have a lot in common:

"7 Types of Mis- and Disinformation" by First Draft is licensed under CC BY 4.0 DEED.

The biggest difference between misinformation and disinformation can be seen in the intent: while misinformation is distributed without intent to confuse or mislead, disinformation is spread with knowledge of its incorrectness and intention. First Draft's infographic offers several possible reasons for disinformation including provocation, political motivation, financial gain, or propaganda.

"Misinformation Matrix" by First Draft is licensed under CC BY 4.0 DEED.

In addition to the disinformation-focused pages in this guide (Altered Images and Video, Artificial Intelligence [AI], Clickbait, and Fake News), the following offer a closer look into aspects of disinformation today:

Countering Disinformation
"The UN General Assembly has expressed concern over the proliferation of disinformation and has welcomed the efforts of the Secretary-General to promote international cooperation in countering disinformation. In response to that, the Secretary-General has submitted a report based on information and best practices shared by States, UN entities and others on countering disinformation." (description from the United Nations website)
Foreign Influence Operations and Disinformation
"CISA reduces risk to U.S. critical infrastructure by building resilience to foreign influence operations and disinformation. Through these efforts, CISA helps the American people understand the scope and scale of these activities targeting election infrastructure and enables them to take action to mitigate associated risks." (description from U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency [CISA] website)
Troll Farms: Not the Stuff of Fairy Tales
"Troll farms fool and misinform in a big way." (description from the News Literacy Project website)
What Stanford Research Reveals About Disinformation and How to Address It
"Stanford scholars from across the social sciences are studying the threats disinformation poses to democracy. Here is some of their research." (description from the Stanford News website)