Disinformation, also called propaganda or fake news, refers to any form of communication that is intended to mislead. The information in the communication is purposefully false or contains a misrepresentation of the truth. Disinformation can be used by individuals, companies, media outlets, and even government agencies.

Types of Disinformation

• Misleading content, or information and half-truths presented in such a way as to place a person or an issue in a negative light.
• Imposter content, or information from a source that deliberately impersonates a known and trustworthy source.
• False content, where legitimate, truthful content is mixed with intentionally false content to give credibility to the false content.
• Fabricated content, or information that is composed completely of information the source knows to be false.
• False connection, or information that implies something in a headline, photo, video clip, or caption that is not a fair representation of the body of the article or other content.
• Manipulated content, or content that is intentionally altered to create a false impression. An example is photo-shopping an individual into a photo at an event where he or she was were not present.

Quoted from: Ungvarsky, J. (2020). Disinformation. In Salem Press Encyclopedia. Salem Press.

We use the Merriam-Webster definitions, where disinformation is characterized by its intent to deceive.

Our friends at the University of Iowa Libraries put together a helpful seven part video series on Research and Disinformation

Getting started:

Google Scholar - Free resource which can be linked to MIT Libraries for full text and cited reference

Ask Us
Ask a question, make an appointment, give feedback, or visit us.