The Intent Makes All the Difference: Misinformation vs. Disinformation

Misinformation is false information spread without malicious purpose. Your friend tells you the grocery store opens at 7 AM when it actually opens at 8. A journalist reports preliminary data that later proves incorrect. You share an outdated COVID treatment recommendation you genuinely believe is current. These are all misinformation—wrong information, but without deliberate deception.

Disinformation, however, is weaponized falsehood. It’s false information created and spread deliberately to deceive, manipulate, or cause harm. If you know the store opens at 8 but tell your rival it opens at 7 hoping they’ll arrive to locked doors, that’s disinformation. The distinction matters because it separates human error from strategic manipulation.

Disinformation the more pernicious of the two often involves coordinated campaigns, fake accounts, manipulated media, and strategic timing. The 2016 U.S. election interference, for example, wasn’t random false posts, it was a systematic disinformation operation designed to sow division and undermine democratic institutions.

Dictionary.com recognized “misinformation” as its 2018 Word of the Year, acknowledging how these issues had moved from intelligence jargon to everyday concern. The World Economic Forum identified misinformation and disinformation as among the most severe short-term global risks in 2024.

A Cold War Legacy

The word “misinformation” has English roots dating to the late 1500s, combining the prefix “mis-” (wrong) with “information.” It’s straightforward: wrong information, period.

“Disinformation” has a more sinister pedigree. The term derives from the Russian word dezinformatsiya, which Joseph Stalin reportedly coined in 1923 when he established a specialized disinformation bureau within Soviet intelligence. Stalin deliberately gave it a French-sounding name to disguise its Soviet origins—meta-deception about deception itself. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia defined it in 1952 as “false information with the intention to deceive public opinion.”

The English word “disinformation” didn’t enter widespread use until the Cold War era, when Western intelligence agencies adopted it to describe Soviet information warfare tactics. NPR notes the term became 10 times more common in media headlines between 2014 and 2019, reflecting growing awareness of coordinated campaigns to manipulate public opinion.

Why It Matters Now

The rise of social media has amplified both phenomena. Misinformation spreads rapidly because users share content without verification—a few clicks can send false claims to thousands. But it’s typically correctable with better information and media literacy.

Disinformation is more pernicious. It involves coordinated campaigns, fake accounts, manipulated media, and strategic timing. The 2016 U.S. election interference, for example, wasn’t random false posts—it was a systematic disinformation operation designed to sow division and undermine democratic institutions.

Dictionary.com recognized “misinformation” as its 2018 Word of the Year, acknowledging how these issues had moved from intelligence jargon to everyday concern. The World Economic Forum identified misinformation and disinformation as among the most severe short-term global risks in 2024.

Key aspects of dezinformatsiya include:

• Origin: Derived from Russian dezinformatsiya (дезинформация), it was the title of a specialized KGB department.
• Intent: Unlike misinformation (which can be unintentional), disinformation is specifically designed to deceive and cause harm.
• Methods: Includes fake news, manipulated media, social media bots, rumors, and propaganda to create noise and mask true information.
• Purpose: To influence emotions, motivations, and objective reasoning of foreign audiences, often used as a tool of warfare or political manipulation.

The Grey Area – Malicious Stupidity

When someone who is literate and has the resources to quickly, cheaply and accurately assess whether a message is both truthful and honest and rather than doing so, they avoid obvious red flags and share the false message – yes, that person is engaging in misinformation, but should what I can only describe as malicious stupidity be an acceptable excuse for failing at ones basic duties as citizen and human?