Worried you’ve shared something false? The difference in misinformation vs disinformation is intent: misinformation is false information shared without meaning harm, while disinformation is false information knowingly shared to cause harm.
This guide is part of our coverage of technology and society, and it explains how to tell these terms apart and spot them in your feed.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Misinformation | False information shared, but no harm is meant |
| Disinformation | False information knowingly shared to cause harm |
| Malinformation | Genuine information shared to cause harm |
| Main motivations behind creating it | Four: financial, political, social and psychological |
| Recommendations in the Council of Europe report (2017) | 35 |
These definitions come from First Draft’s summary of its Council of Europe report and from Free Press Unlimited. Terms and figures can change, so check the sources before you rely on them.
What is the difference between misinformation and disinformation?
The dividing line is intent. In the framework published in 2017, misinformation is when false information is shared but no harm is meant, and disinformation is when false information is knowingly shared to cause harm.
The report separates information disorder along two dimensions, harm and falseness. That gives three types:
- Misinformation: false, shared without intent to harm.
- Disinformation: false, shared knowingly to cause harm.
- Malinformation: genuine, shared to cause harm.
Free Press Unlimited gives a plain example of the first type: people who don’t know a piece of information is false may spread it on social media in an attempt to be helpful. The post can look identical to a deliberate lie. What differs is what the sharer knew and wanted.
Where malinformation fits
Many people only learn about two categories, but there is a third. Malinformation is the odd one out: the content is accurate, but it is shared to hurt someone, typically by taking something private and making it public.
Free Press Unlimited describes it as private or revealing information spread to harm a person or reputation. Nothing in it needs to be false, which is why a simple “true or false” check does not catch it. Ask what the information is being used for, not only whether it is accurate.
Examples of how false content spreads
Real cases rarely fit a single label. The sources point to several patterns you can recognise:
- Well-meant sharing: someone passes on a claim they believe is true, hoping to help friends or family.
- Motivated creation: producers of disinformation typically have political, financial, psychological or social motivations.
- Real material, false context: a genuine image or story is shared with false contextual information, such as an image of an attack presented as recent when it is from an event that happened years ago.
- Misleading framing: headlines or supporting visuals imply something the content does not support.
Free Press Unlimited notes that mis- and disinformation often contain a mix of true and false assertions. That mix is what makes them hard to dismiss at a glance.
The report also breaks the problem into elements and phases. The elements are agent, message and interpreter, and the phases are creation, (re)production and distribution. The agent who creates a message can differ from the agent who distributes it, so a claim that starts as disinformation can become misinformation once people who believe it pass it on.
Why false content travels so fast
The report’s authors argue that information consumption is not rational but driven by powerful emotional forces. The most “successful” problematic content plays on emotions of contempt, anger or fear, because those feelings drive sharing among people who want to connect with their online communities.
Visual content matters too. The authors say that debate has focused overwhelmingly on fabricated text news sites, when visual content is just as widespread and much harder to identify and debunk.
They also point to closed messaging apps and to artificial intelligence that manufactures or detects disinformation as future trends. And they stress that these issues are not caused solely by technology companies, so tweaking algorithms is not enough. If you want to see how rules shape what platforms can do with your information, read about data privacy laws around the world.
Warning signs to check before you share
None of these signs proves a post is false. Treat them as prompts to slow down before you hit share:
- Check your reaction. If a post makes you angry, scornful or afraid, pause, because that is the emotional pattern the research links to sharing.
- Check the date and context. Ask whether a striking image really shows the event described, or whether it is older.
- Compare headline and content. See whether the body of the piece supports what the headline or picture implies.
- Look at the motive. Ask who gains, whether financially, politically, socially or psychologically, if you believe and share it.
- Check private details. If a post exposes someone’s private information, consider whether it is meant to harm even if it is accurate.
Trust in digital tools matters well beyond news feeds, and mobile money in developing countries is another area where it comes up.
Why experts avoid the term “fake news”
The report refrains from using the term “fake news” and urges journalists, academics and policy-makers to do the same. The authors give two reasons: the term is inadequate to describe the complexities of information disorder, and politicians worldwide have appropriated it to describe news organisations whose coverage they find disagreeable.
The European Commission’s High Level Expert Group made a similar choice in its March 2018 report, calling the term inadequate and misleading, according to Free Press Unlimited. Precise words such as misinformation, disinformation and malinformation describe what is actually happening.
The problem is not new either. Free Press Unlimited cites a learning module from the International Center for Journalists noting that propaganda through mis- and disinformation has existed since at least Roman times.
Frequently asked questions
Is misinformation always harmless?
Show answer
Not necessarily. The definition rests on intent: misinformation is false information where no harm is meant. The sharer may be trying to help, but the content is still false.
Can disinformation include true facts?
Show answer
Yes. Free Press Unlimited says mis- and disinformation often mix true and false assertions, and a real image can be shared with false context.
Is true information ever part of information disorder?
Show answer
Yes. Malinformation is genuine information shared to cause harm, often by moving private information into the public sphere.
Why do researchers avoid “fake news”?
Show answer
They say it is inadequate to describe the problem and has been appropriated by politicians to attack coverage they dislike, which can undermine the free press.
