What is the difference between misinformation and disinformation?

The term “fake news” has been all over social media to refer to any false information that is circulating online. 

But there are also the words “misinformation” and “disinformation.”

How do these words differ from each other? 

Google News Initiative teaching fellow Trinna Leong said that the correct term for “fake news” is misinformation.

According to UNESCO, misinformation refers to any information “that is false but not created with the intention of causing harm.” 

Meanwhile, disinformation is information “that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organization, or country.”

UNICEF said that there are seven types of misinformation and disinformation (mis/disinformation) that could be harmful even to children. 

• Satire or parody - no intention to cause harm but has potential to fool. 
• Misleading content - misleading use of information to frame an issue or individual. 
• Imposter content - when genuine sources are impersonated.
• Fabricated content - new content that purely false, made to deceive and do harm.
• False connection - when headlines, visuals or captions don’t support the content.
• Fake context - when genuine content is shared with false contextual information.
• Manipulated content - when genuine information or imagery is manipulated to deceive.

“Digital mis/disinformation can proliferate through people, bots and troll factories – organized groups that wage coordinated mis/disinformation campaigns – for a range of reasons: to intentionally deceive and harm, to gain political influence, for financial gain, or unwittingly to share information or garner approval and popularity,” the UNICEF said. 

How to spot fake news? 

According to GMA senior reporter Joseph Morong, one of the red flags to notice are sensationalized headlines. 

He also warned that some websites mimic the websites of legitimate media outlets - from logo, layout, to even URL.

Meanwhile, another way to spot possible false information is to check when the image or story was posted. 

Leong suggested that photos or videos can be fact-checked by reverse searching through “Search Image with Google Lens.” 

You can also search via Google Images, where you can either paste an image URL or upload a photo and see where else it has been published.

One can also trace the image’s whereabouts by geolocation to see where it was taken. 

To do this, simply go to Google Maps and use the street view option. Click the yellow man icon and it will show you blue lines and dots showing the location’s most recent photo captures. 

Not everything we see online is true.

So always think before you click. --VAL, GMA Integrated News