Blog Post #8 - Each One, Teach One: Disinformation

What is Disinformation?

What comes to mind when you hear the word "disinformation"? If you think fake, false, or misleading, you would be correct. Disinformation is information that is deliberately spread with the intention of misleading, typically for power purposes. In other words, false information that is spread by people who know it isn't true. Disinformation is also referred to as "black propaganda" for its ability to deceive people. The deception is so powerful that it can go as far as changing public opinion and obscuring the truth. Disinformation hurts the world, it hurts community, and it hurts trust. 

Good or Bad People?

When discussing disinformation, it is important to remember that people who spread it are trying to mislead you. People spread disinformation knowing that the information is false and want to convince others that the information is true. Typically, this is often done by victims of disinformation who believe it to be true and continue to spread it. 

Disinformation is rarely ever considered plain gossip. Disinformation is meant to have a large effect and lasting impact on society. This is done through campaigns and well constructed plans to target a large audience. However, victims of disinformation do not continue to spread disinformation. They spread misinformation. But what's the difference? 

Disinformation vs. Misinformation 

There is a fine line between disinformation and misinformation. To break it down, misinformation is the innocent form of disinformation. While disinformation involves people knowing what they're spreading is false, misinformation has completely different intentions. People do not know that misinformation is fake and believe it themselves to be true. As I mentioned earlier, people who spread misinformation are often victims of disinformation. 

Misinformation is looked at as another form of human error. As humans, it is understandable to mishear information and small details about the news. Reminds you or the game telephone, right? Misinformation has completely harmless intentions and is spread by people who believe it to be true. They are not trying to confuse, manipulate, or change the minds of anyone. 

The Real World

A very common example of misinformation is celebrity gossip. Celebrities are always having their business blasted over social media about rumors. As a result, people read the information and think it's true and continue to tell their friends and family without knowing its disinformation. 

Above is a real world example of an internet act of disinformation uploaded in 2013. The news was placed on a website called fakeawish.com that is known for people creating fake celebrity gossip. In this example, a person went online and posted that famous actor Tom Cruise had died in a car crash. This post created the spread of disinformation and caused a lot of people to believe that the actor had in fact, died. 

What can we do?

We will never be able to stop fake news, but we can learn to not think and act so impulsively. Just because you hear or see something on the internet doesn't mean its true. Always look into the news before you take part in spreading it. Brush up on some details, learn the facts, support your argument.