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misinformation
[ mis-in-fer-mey-shuhn ]
noun
- false information that is spread, regardless of whether there is intent to mislead:
In the chaotic hours after the earthquake, a lot of misinformation was reported in the news.
Word History and Origins
Origin of misinformation1
Example Sentences
“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump wrote.
Many people have not been paying attention to the movement that brought Trump to power, and may not be aware of the misinformation bubble that it has funded.
Critics argue his changes have given prominence to hate-speech and misinformation - though he has argued the site is politically neutral.
Trump and other Republicans spread misinformation about noncitizens illegally voting in federal elections to skew results in favor of Democrats — despite laws and decades of studies that dispute claims of voter fraud.
Although a few folks who tested out the “hack” said they received more food, Chipotle quickly shut down the misinformation, saying the “hack” is misleading.
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Related Words
Misinformation Vs. Disinformation
What's the difference between misinformation and disinformation?
Misinformation refers to false information, regardless of whether or not it’s intended to mislead or deceive people. Disinformation, in contrast, refers to false information that’s spread with the specific intent of misleading or deceiving people.
Due to their similarity, the terms are sometimes used in overlapping ways. All disinformation is misinformation, but not all misinformation is disinformation. Disinformation is the more specific of the two because it always implies that the false information is being provided or spread on purpose.
Disinformation is especially used in the context of large-scale deception, such as a disinformation campaign by a government that targets the population of another country. Misinformation can be spread with the intent to trick people or just because someone incorrectly thinks it’s true.
This distinction can also be seen in the difference between their verb forms, misinform and disinform. To misinform someone is to provide them with wrong information, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it was intentional. Disinform, which is much less commonly used, means to intentionally provide or spread false information.
One way to remember the difference between misinformation and disinformation is to remember that misinformation can be a mistake, while disinformation is not just false but dishonest.
Here’s an example of misinformation and disinformation used correctly in a sentence.
Example: The intelligence report concluded that the rumors spread prior to the election were not simply the result of misinformation but rather of coordinated disinformation by a foreign power.
Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between misinformation and disinformation.
Quiz yourself on misinformation vs. disinformation!
Should misinformation or disinformation be used in the following sentence?
The government spread _____ about the location of their army in hopes of tricking the enemy.
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