Disinformation
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. There are different forms of misleading information. The most well-known form is disinformation.
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.
Disinformation is a genuine threat and it can have various harmful effects. Disinformation can:
- disrupt democratic processes such as elections;
- fuel hatred, polarisation, radicalisation and violence;
- encourage distrust of traditional media, researchers and government, among others;
- Undermine our democratic state and its values.
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
In addition to disinformation, we distinguish other forms of misleading information based on its nature and intent.
Misinformation
Misinformation involves false or misleading information being unintentionally disseminated, meaning the person spreading this information does not know that it is false. The effects of proliferation, however, may still be harmful, for example, when you share fake messages with friends and family. The big difference with disinformation is that there is no intent to harm.
Malinformation
A third form is malinformation. This involves intentionally publishing (truthful) private information to gain personal or commercial advantage. Intentionally changing the content, date and time stamps of authentic information also falls under this concept. With malinformation, the disseminator intends to cause harm. The big difference with disinformation is that the information is accurate or truthful. An example is the distribution of private erotic images.
Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI)
Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) is the term used within the European Union for interference by foreign actors, perpetrated by means of information operations. FIMI is a usually legal pattern of behaviour that threatens or could negatively harm our values, procedures and political processes. Such activity is manipulative, deliberate and coordinated, and can be carried out by both state and non-state actors.
It is important to always be careful and critical of information. You can take various steps to protect yourself from disinformation.
BEFORE
- Educate yourself on what disinformation is and how it works.
- Our "How Does Disinformation Work" page has more information on the various influencing techniques that are often employed.
- If you would like to find out more about disinformation, please visit the following sites:
- Play the serious game Harmony Square developed by DROG and Tilt Studio and learn about manipulation techniques by taking on the role of the disinformation disseminator.
DURING
Be critical of the information you read. You can recognize disinformation by asking yourself a few questions:
- Who is the author, creator or disseminator of the message?
- Find out who wrote the message and look up more information about this person or organisation online. If you can't find anything about this person or organisation, chances are they don't exist and the information is unreliable. On websites, you can often find out further information about the creators and their intentions through the "about us" or "disclaimer" page.
- Is the information in the message truthful?
- Are sources mentioned? Are these credible? No link to the source? Then use a search engine to see if the source can be found.
- For what purpose was the message created or distributed?
- Consider why the message was created and how the creators might want you to think or behave after reading it. You can sometimes infer what the creators want to achieve from the tone and wording of a message. For example, the goal may be to change your opinion about something, to provoke an extreme reaction, or even to make money by getting lots of people to click on the link; this type of article is often called clickbait.
- Read beyond the title.
- Very exaggerated or misleading titles are often used to attract attention, provoke emotions or draw readers to a page.
- Consult multiple sources.
- Not sure if a particular post or article is accurate? Then check out other reliable (news) sources as well. If you find the same information there, chances are the information is correct.
- Check when a particular post or article was written and when it was shared.
- Sometimes old news stories are shared on social media, either accidentally or to make it seem like something happened recently. If you cannot find a date of publication, check other sources, (websites or accounts) to see if they have also shared this information.
- Fact-check it yourself.
- Sometimes photos or videos are used out of context. You can identify the actual context of the photo by putting it into a search engine. Read more tips on how to fact check.
- Be critical of style.
- Is the article full of misspellings and exclamation points or is much of the title in capital letters? If so, chances are you are dealing with disinformation.
On the Mediawijs website, you can find a poster with 10 questions to help you identify reliable sources and arm you against disinformation.
Idoubt.eu, a campaign that is part of the EDMO Belux project, provides tools to bring certainty to doubts. You will find tips on how to search online effectively, who to seek advice from, or who to talk to about your doubts.
AFTER
- Still not sure if the information is accurate and reliable? Then do not spread the information or message any further.
- Are you sure you are dealing with disinformation? Then you can report it to EDMO BELUX via this page.
What does the government do?
At Belgian, European and international levels, the necessary initiatives are being implemented to detect, analyse and counter disinformation, but also to make society resilient against all forms of disinformation, including information operations by foreign (state) actors.
Thus, at the European level, there is an action plan against disinformation. Moreover, a Strengthened Code of practice on Disinformation also came into being in 2022. This is a document drafted and signed by various advertisers, online platforms, civil society organisations, fact checkers in which they undertake to take various actions to combat disinformation, such as ensuring the transparency of political advertising and strengthening cooperation with factcheckers. An overview of the different initiatives at EU level can be found on the next page: Tackling online disinformation | Shaping Europe’s digital future (europa.eu)
The website of the European Parliament contains a page on the topic of disinformation. There you can learn what the European Parliament is doing against disinformation to protect democracy and ensure European have access to quality information.