Sorting through the vast amount of information created and shared online is challenging even for experts. This guide defines terms including and related to misinformation and disinformation, while offering resources and information to avoid both reading and sharing it.
These are important information evaluation skills that you'll use for the rest of your life. The more aware you are of what false information is and how it spreads, the better you will be at avoiding it yourself - and helping your friends and family do the same.
CCBY4.0 image: First Draft News
| Term | Definition | Sources |
| misinformation | Misinformation misleads. It is false information that is communicated and spread, regardless of intent to deceive. | |
| disinformation | Disinformation deceives. It is false information that is intentionally crafted and spread to deceive via manipulated facts or narratives. It is a form of propaganda and can be "disseminated by a government or intelligence agency in a hostile act of tactical political subversion." |
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Dictionary.com |
| malinformation | Malinformation sabotages. It is factual information that is taken out of context and presented to cause harm. Harm is derived from either the true statement being shared out of context, or at a particularly vulnerable point for the target. |
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Iona University |
Disinformation and misinformation are effective. Our brains can easily make us believe that false information is real and true through something called "confirmation bias." Watch this video (5m20) by Above The Noise to learn more.
Created by the National Center for State Courts