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Misinformation and Disinformation

Term Definition Example
Misinformation When false information is shared, but no harm is meant During the 2016 US presidential elections, a tweet about a 'rigged' voting machine in Philadelphia was shared more than 11,000 times. It was later established that the original tweet was a mistake made by a voter who had failed to follow the Instructions exhibited on the voting machine."
Disinformation When false information is knowingly shared to
cause harm		 During the 2017 French presidential elections, a duplicate version of the Belgian newspaper Le Soir was created, with a false article claiming that Emmanuel Macron was being funded by Saudi Arabia.
Mal-information When genuine information is shared to cause harm Examples include intentional leakage of a politician's private emails, as happened during the presidential elections in France.

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Misinformation, Disinformation and Fake News Defined

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  • Misinformation
    Misinformation is false or inaccurate information that is mistakenly or inadvertently created or spread; the intent is not to deceive. Shared on the .
  • Disinformation

    Disinformation is false information that is deliberately created and spread "in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth" according to  dictionary. Shared on the .

    Disinformation is a broader term that encompasses all examples of deliberately false or misleading information. It differs from misinformation, which refers to information that is inaccurate but not necessarily maliciously so. Shared by the .

  • Fake News

    鈥淔ake news鈥 is a term that has come to mean different things to different people. At its core, we are defining 鈥渇ake news鈥 as those news stories that are false: the story itself is fabricated, with no verifiable facts, sources or quotes. Sometimes these stories may be propaganda that is intentionally designed to mislead the reader, or may be designed as 鈥渃lickbait鈥 written for economic incentives (the writer profits on the number of people who click on the story). In recent years, fake news stories have proliferated via social media, in part because they are so easily and quickly shared online. 

    Shared on the .

  • Confirmation Bias

    Confirmation bias is the idea that we tend to accept information unquestionably when it reinforces some predisposition we have or some existing belief or attitude. In this , reporters and media professionals define the term "confirmation bias," and discuss its effect on how people approach and evaluate news and other information.

    Video provided by .


Resources for Spotting Fake News


    • Nonpartisan, nonprofit "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. FactCheck.org applies the best practices of both journalism and scholarship to increase public knowledge and understanding.

    • Resources compiled by Claire Wardle. The site Includes helpful infographic that helps to explain problematic content in the information ecosystem.
    • Resource created by Dr. Melissa Zimdars, an assistant professor of communication & media at Merrimack College, as a tool to teach her students about journalism/social media/media literacy.
    • A fact-checking website produced by and . This website serves as a resource for verifying the increasing volume of disinformation and misinformation being distributed and shared globally.
    • Rates truthfulness of news stories.

How to Spot Fake News

CONSIDER THE SOURCE

Click away from the story to investigate the site, its mission and its contact info.

CHECK THE AUTHOR

Do a quick search on the author. Are they credible? Are they real?

CHECK THE DATE

Re-posting old news stories doesn't mean they're relevant to current events.

CHECK YOUR BIASES

Consider if your own beliefs could affect your judgment.

READ BEYOND

Headlines can be outrageous in an effort to get clicks. What's the whole story?

SUPPORTING SOURCES?

Click on those links. Determine if the info given actually supports the story .

IS IT A JOKE?

If it is too outlandish, it might be satire. Research the site and author to be sure.

ASK THE EXPERTS

Ask a librarian, or consult a fact-checking site.

Review the infographic created by the  on How to Spot Fake News.