Title reads 'Disinformation vs Misinformation: Definitions & Types'. There is an illustration. There are 3 icons in front of an orange circle. The top one is a bomb with an i icon standing for information. The 2nd one is a fire with a person inside holding their hands to their head with 2 questions marks above their head. The third icon is a rifle target with 3 people in the middle. They are all connected by the circle and a larger dotted circle surrounding them interconnecting with the bomb fuse. This logo represents a collection of resources in the commons library called Countering Disinformation.

Disinformation vs Misinformation: Definitions & Types

By

Introduction

Disinformation is confusing! In order to respond we need to make sense of what is happening. The Commons Librarians have collated definitions, types of misinformation and disinformation, and common tactics used to spread them. You may like to use these materials to start conversations in your community, run training sessions, or inform planning. 

Definitions: Disinformation, Misinformation and Malinformation 

Wardle and Derakhshan provide the following definitions in their report “Information Disorder” (2017):

  • Dis-information – Information that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organization or country. 
  • Mis-information – Information that is false, but not created with the intention of causing harm. 
  • Mal-information – Information that is based on reality, used to inflict harm on a person, organization or country (2017: 20).

Shout Out UK produced this short video to explain the differences:

How to understand Misinformation, Disinformation and Malinformation, Shout Out UK. (2020)

To help you understand the differences, Deakin University shares this graph of the information and intent relationship. 

Information intent graph Overview The graph has four squares, and the horizontal axis shows the level of intended harm and the vertical axis indicates whether the information is fact or false. The boxes in the graph are as follows:Genuine information Factual information intended to inform. This is in the bottom left of the graph, indicating that the information is factual and not intended to cause harm.Misinformation Unintentionally misleading information presented as fact. This is in the top left of the graph, as it is false but not intended to cause harm.Malinformation Based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate. This is in the bottom right of the graph demonstrating that it is factual and intended to harm.Disinformation Deliberately created to mislead, harm or manipulate. This is in the top right of the graph as it is both false and intended to harm.

Hivemind encourages the use of these questions: 

  • Concerning truthfulness/ falsehood: “Is the information true or false?”, “Can you spot some true and possibly some false elements in it?”
  • Concerning its purpose and the intention hidden behind it: “Was it created with the intent to manipulate people?”, “Was the intent to do any harm?”

The distinction between misinformation and disinformation has often been used to capture that difference in intent. While both terms refer to misleading information, misinformation is usually used to imply no deliberate intent to mislead, while disinformation implies knowing deception. It is often difficult, however, to prove the actor’s intent. In public discourse, misinformation is thus used more frequently than disinformation – a tendency that deceptive actors can exploit to try to maintain credibility. – Caroline Jack, Lexicon of Lies: Terms for Problematic Information, page 15.

For more exploration of terminology see: 

Types of Misinformation and Disinformation

Several authors and projects have defined categories to make sense of the confusing array of misleading information. 

First Draft identify seven types, which have been summarised by Hivemind: 

  1. Satire or parody: No intention to cause harm but has potential to fool.
  2. False connection: When headlines, visuals or captions don’t support the content.
  3. Misleading content: Misleading use of information to frame an issue or individual.
  4. False context: When genuine content is shared with false contextual information.
  5. Imposter content: When genuine sources are impersonated.
  6. Manipulated content: When genuine information or imagery is manipulated to deceive.
  7. Fabricated content: New content is 100% false, designed to deceive and do harm.

The UNHCR adds three additional types: 

  • Sponsored Content: Advertising or PR disguised as editorial content; 
  • Propaganda: Content used to manage attitudes, values and knowledge; 
  • Error: A mistake made by established new agencies in their reporting. 

Deakin University incorporates the types listed above as well as: 

  • Clickbait: Eye-catching content that is designed to make people want to read it

In this ABC iview video Jan Fran summarises First Draft’s seven types of misinformation and disinformation:

Jan Splaining: What are the types of misinformation and disinformation?, ABC iview. (2022)

The European Parliament has developed videos to help people spot disinformation, including The Emotion Trap, The Polarisation Trap, and The Flooding Trap.

A great deal of research suggests that disinformation narratives build on and reify pre-existing ideologies, frequently involving race and inequality (Freelon et al., 2020; Nkonde et al., 2021; Ong, 2021). Identity-based hierarchies, particularly race, play a key role in the creation, spread, and uptake of disinformation narratives (Kreiss et al., 2020; Marwick et al., 2021). – Kuo, R., & Marwick, A. (2021). Critical disinformation studies: History, power, and politics.

Disinformation Tactics 

The Australian Electoral Commission lists the following techniques used ‘to convince people to believe, and then spread, bad information’.

  • Emotional language
  • Incoherence
  • False dilemmas
  • Scapegoating
  • Personal attacks
  • Just Asking Questions
  • Cherry-picking

See the AEC for explanations and examples of these techniques, and the TruthLabs videos about Emotional language, Incoherence, False dichotomies Scapegoating and Ad-Hominem Attacks. 

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the US government outlines tactics that ‘are designed to make disinformation actors’ messages more credible, or to manipulate their audience to a specific end.’

  • Cultivate Fake or Misleading Personas and Websites
  • Create Deepfakes and Synthetic Media
  • Devise or Amplify Conspiracy Theories
  • Astroturfing and Flooding the Information Environment
  • Abuse Alternative Platforms
  • Exploit Information Gaps
  • Manipulate Unsuspecting Actors
  • Spread Targeted Content

CISA’s Tactics of Disinformation guide includes descriptions, examples and ways to respond to each tactic. 

Ben Nimmo from the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) developed the ‘4 Ds model’ for how disinformation actors commonly respond to criticism: 

  • DISMISS: If you don’t like what the critics are saying, insult them
  • DISTORT: If you don’t like some facts, just twist them
  • DISTRACT: If the conversation is getting uncomfortable, change its subject
  • DISMAY: If you don’t like someone’s plan, scare them off it

Read the Hivemind summary of this model. 

Watch More Videos

Explore Further 

To dig deeper follow the links contained in this article. For more see: 

Share Resource

Share on LinkedIn

Topics:

    Collection:

    Tags:

    Format:


    © All Rights Reserved

    Contact a Commons librarian if you would like to connect with the author

    Topics