8. Misinformation, Disinformation, and Fact-Checking

What is the difference between Misinformation and Disinformation, and what is Fact-Checking?

What is Misinformation?

Misinformation and disinformation are terms often used lightly, usually with the lack of distinction between the two and what makes them different. Disclaimer: misinformation and disinformation are not the same thing. To put it precisely, misinformation is false or inaccurate information. This simply means just getting the facts wrong, which often happens to the best of all of us. Misinformation isn't deceitful or intentional and is usually an accident or just not knowing something. If you're taking an exam for your World Literature II class and answer a question incorrectly, you've misinformed the professor on what's factually correct. Although the professor knows what the right answer is, he/she has still been misinformed. 

What is disinformation? 

Disinformation is forwardly purposeful and with ill intent. Disinformation is also false information, which in this case is deliberately intended to mislead--someone intentionally misstating the facts. Disinformation is often in pursuit of an objective, whether that is for one's own benefit or an organization's benefit. One of the largest disinformation organizations in the world is government, which engages in propaganda to ensure regime stability or create instability in their adversaries. For example, the Russian government is guilty for disinforming the people, with waged disinformed campaigns during the war against Ukraine. The objective was to maintain support among the Russian people. 

The spread of misinformation and disinformation have proven to be detrimental to society, having negatively affected our ability to improve public health, maintain a stable democracy, discern and judge precisely, etc. Because of this, fact-checking is necessary when it comes to information literacy. 

What is fact-checking and why is it important?

Fact-checking is as self-explanatory as it gets. To fact check means "to verify the factual accuracy of" something, according to Merriam Webster. The entirety of fact-checking is to avoid producing misleading information, intentional and non-intentional. It is to ensure that the information stated is factually correct. Anyone can fact-check through news articles, podcasts, social media posts, documentaries, and any other nonfiction work. Considering that disinformation is deceitful and referred to as "fake news," fact-checking is usually not necessary to con artists, other than maybe to know what they will chose not to state. 

There are benefits when fact checking one own's work, such as a boost in your credibility, the reliability of your content, and engagement within your audience. Fact-checking will ensure that your works are of high quality, which in general just looks good. Fact-checking will also ensure information literacy among society, which, according to Skyline College, is an ability to find, retain, and evaluate information in multiple formats, mostly displayed in decision making and problem solving. It is a combination of multiple skills (including research and communication skills), which go hand in hand with being knowledgeable of facts. 

It is important to know the difference between misinformation and disinformation and what makes them different. Misinformation happens when a person is unknowledgeable of something, while disinformation happens when someone knows what the truth is and purposefully states what isn't true. It is essential to check the facts of what you think you may know, that you genuinely may not know.