[Photo by Our Health Journeys]
Malinformation is another tool-of-misuse by a tyrannical state.
The Definition of Misinformation
Misinformation is the unintentional distribution of lies, misleading facts, or unverified talking points. You’re told something and you believe it without doing the research — then you spread it around without independent verification. Others come across your info, further spread it, and the irradiation grows. The issue with misinformation isn’t that it’s necessarily false, it can be true in some cases, but it’s misleading and turns ignorant people into experts. When misinformation becomes touted as factual, it strays us further from the truth.
Understanding Disinformation
Disinformation is intentionally spreading untruths or deceitful data to achieve a certain goal. Disinformation isn’t all lies, some truths can be mixed in, but the source-of-disinfo wants a certain narrative permeating upon the target demographic. Corrupt governments do this all the time, with Genocidal Media serving as a powerful disinformation tool. When a dominant entity wants the people, business leaders, institutions, and other potential dissidents to fall in line — disinformation is applied.
Misinformation vs Disinformation
The key difference between misinformation and disinformation is intent — ignorance vs malice. Both have a similar effect, misleading the public, but one is organic and the latter manufactured. When misinformation is spread, it can be stopped by doing research and providing evidence to combat it. Some will still believe the misinfo, if it “works” for them, but it ultimately loses its effectiveness.
On the other hand, disinformation is part of a well coordinated attack, a campaign against the truth. In the more extreme circumstances a disinfo agent can infiltrate a knowledge center to further distort the truth. Your independent research won’t matter as much since it goes against the “common knowledge.” There can also be multiple disinformation streams working together to further deviate from the truth.
Defining Malinformation
Malinformation is authentic information with a malicious intent. An example of this could a text message or social media post without any background info — the provided data is technically factual, but something vital is missing. Another instance of malinformation could be revenge porn. The target of revenge porn is clearly engaging in an intimate act, it’s really happening and no further details are needed — but it’s meant to harm the subject, as is the intention of “revenge porn.”
However, malinformation can and will be used for data suppression. Yes, showing something without context is harmful, and revenge porn is harmful, but will facts that harm the government or a corporation also be labeled as “malinformation”? Governments and megacorps have no desire to be moral & ethical actors, everything they do is for their own benefit. A government only cares about power, and a megacorp is only concerned with money — they won’t let facts get in the way in their way! When credible data evidence harms a bureaucratic authority it’ll be labeled as “malinformation.”
Misinformation is ignorance, disinformation is deceit, and malinformation is a “harmful” truth. Yes, a victim of revenge porn is suffering, but can a warmongering government or unethical corporation be considered a victim?
