Today, more than ever, we are inundated with an enormous amount of information from numerous channels, both online and offline. The impact, however, is often greater now due, in part, to social media allowing erroneous or misleading information to be spread easier, faster and with a much wider reach.
What is disinformation?
Disinformation is the deliberate dissemination of false, incorrect or misleading information to cause harm. The person spreading disinformation may intend to influence opinions, make money or harm society, public health or democracy, for example. These messages can include malicious lies and rumours, fabricated content, manipulation campaigns and conspiracy theories.
Disinformation can be spread through different channels both offline and online, for example through social media.
The term disinformation is regularly used interchangeably with the term "fake news". Specifically, the term "fake news" refers to fabricated messages that aim to mislead people to make money or influence public opinion. But not all disinformation is 100% false or fabricated. Often there is a kernel of truth in the message so the disinformation becomes a combination of facts and fabricated information. Thus, the term "fake news" is too narrow to describe the phenomenon of disinformation. Fake news is just one form of misleading information
More info?
From: https://crisiscenter.be/en/risks-belgium/security-risks/disinformation/disinformation
