Misinformation is the inadvertent spread of false information without intent to harm, while disinformation is false information designed to mislead others and is deliberately spread with the intent to confuse fact and fiction. Identifying and combating the spread of mis- and disinformation is a major challenge in the increasingly complex information landscape of the 21st century.
Misinformation can occur when individuals or organizations unwittingly get the facts wrong. Misinformation often surfaces when a breaking news story is unfolding and details have not yet been confirmed. Another instance of misinformation is when people share false information as a fact without thoroughly checking that the information they are sharing is accurate.
Misinformation can spread easily despite a lack of malicious intent. A 2018 study of Twitter (now known as X) users by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that false information spreads more quickly than accurate information. Take, for example, a rapidly spreading social media post about a new celebrity couple that is shared repeatedly before being debunked as a rumor, a joke, or gossip. For someone scrolling through an app, a quick “one click” can easily share the false information, unintentionally causing the fake claim to spread like wildfire. Even if the original post or claim is modified, if people have already shared the information in separate posts, the misinformation can be actively and repeatedly spread with no accountability for those sharing the false rumor.
