Misinformation and Disinformation
What is misinformation? How is it different from disinformation? As the Data & Society Research Institute Links to an external site. notes, it all comes down to intent.
Misinformation
Misinformation Links to an external site., as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “incorrect or misleading information.” Importantly, it is inaccurate information, but the inaccuracy is unintentional.
In some cases, misinformation can come from otherwise reliable sources. For example, a trusted news source may inaccurately report details of a developing story. Famously, The Chicago Tribune ran a headline Links to an external site. that declared Thomas Dewey the winner of the 1948 presidential election over Harry S. Truman (who, of course, became President in 1949). Trusting in polls and early returns and rushing to announce the news of the presidential victory, the Tribune circulated this misinformation in about 150,000 copies of its first edition before walking back the claims in following editions of the day’s paper.
Remember that any reliable source will publish corrections to earlier errors. These can be low impact corrections, such as misspellings, or high impact corrections, such as correcting misinformation. While digital media environments make corrections more challenging (especially given the potential reach of the original story on social media) journalists continue to work on how to keep their readers updated Links to an external site. with the most accurate information.
Disinformation
Again according to Merriam-Webster, disinformation Links to an external site. is “false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.” Unlike misinformation, disinformation is intentionally inaccurate. A report Links to an external site. commissioned by the U.S. Department of State further explains that “disinformation can include authentic material used in a deliberately wrong context to make a false connection.”
Because what separates misinformation from disinformation is intention, it can be hard to prove whether something is in fact disinformation. For example, The New York Post ran a story Links to an external site. claiming that unaccompanied migrant children at the southern border were receiving copies of Vice President Kamala Harris’s children’s book as part of a “welcome kit.” The story was based on a single photo of the book on a child’s cot at a shelter. Investigation by other news and fact-checking organizations Links to an external site. found that, in fact, a single copy of the book had been donated along with hundreds of books and toys as part of a city-wide book and toy drive. The Post later corrected its story, but not until it already had been widely shared on television networks and social media, including by elected officials. Furthermore, the reporter who wrote the original story resigned, claiming Links to an external site. it was “an incorrect story I was ordered to write.” The many shares of the story were spreading misinformation—those who shared it were not aware it was a false story. But was the original story disinformation? By the definition above, probably. Can that be proven? Maybe not.