#275 – Misinformation and Disinformation: A Growing Problem

Misinformation and Disinformation: A Growing Problem

In today’s episode, we’ll explore the basics of both misinformation and disinformation and how they are becoming a growing problem.

Read a transcript of this episode.

Definitions

• Misinformation is information that is factually wrong but is presented as being true.
• Disinformation is the deliberate sharing of knowingly false information with the intent to deceive someone else.

A Growing Problem

The spread of misinformation and disinformation can take many forms across various platforms:

• Artificial intelligence and deepfakes
• AI-generated news sites
• Social media

Motivation

• Motivators for posting disinformation include:
  • Politics
  • Money
• Sharing misinformation can be motivated by:
  • Anger or outrage
  • Ease

Enhancing the Problem

A few amplifiers behind the spread of misinformation and disinformation are:

• Echo chambers
• Confirmation bias
• Illusory truth effect
• Social media as a news source

For more information about this topic, explore the following AVID Open Access article collection: Become Information and Media Literate.