Misinformation

Welcome to the Misinformation Library Guide! This guide aims to educate on the topic of misinformation, how and why it occurs, and its consequences. This guide will include ASU Library resources and outside resources for researching various aspects of misinformation. 

Click on the boxes to the left to learn more about misinformation in Arizona, the many forms of misinformation, evaluation frameworks to detect misinformation, statistics about misinformation, national organizations that research misinformation, library searches for resources on misinformation, and additional resources to check out.

 You can also utilize our online Ask a Librarian service to get guidance on researching misinformation and its various impacts.

"Misinformation is false information that is spread, regardless of whether there is intent to mislead." Misinformation can occur with any source and be based on one's mistake or accidental error. On the other hand, "disinformation is deliberately misleading or biased information; manipulated narrative or facts." 

Sometimes used with disinformation, malinformation refers to information based on the truth but exaggerated or presented out of context: the intent is to attack an idea, individual, organization, group, country, or other entity.

                                                        
3 Types of Information Disorder. Credit: Claire Wardle & Hossein Derakshan, 2017

References

Dictionary.com (n.d.) Disinformation. Retrieved December 13, 2024 from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/disinformation

Dictionary.com. (n.d.) Misinformation. Retrieved December 13, 2024 from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/misinformation 

Disinformation can appear in many forms, which are noted in the following bullets. 

• Fake news involves "false news stories, often of a sensational nature, created to be widely shared or distributed {to generate revenue, or promote discredit of} a public figure, political movement, company, etc." Fake news can also be a "tactic to dispute or discredit information that is perceived as hostile or unflattering." 
• Propaganda is a type of disinformation that involves "ideas or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc." Propaganda is driven by an organization or movement to promote its own doctrines or principles. 
• Misleading content consists of information and half-truths that paint a person or an issue in a negative light.
• Imposter content comes from a source that deliberately impersonates a known and trustworthy source.
• False content mixes legitimate, truthful content with intentionally false content to give it credibility.
• Fabricated content is completely composed of information that one knows to be false.
• False connection implies something in a headline, photo, video clip, or caption that unfairly represents the body of the article or other content.
• Manipulated content is intentionally altered information to create a false impression. An example is photo-shopping an individual into a photo at an event where they were not present.

References
Dictionary.com https://www.dictionary.com/browse/fake-news

Dictionary.com https://www.dictionary.com/browse/propaganda

Ungvarsky, J. (2020). Disinformation. In Salem Press Encyclopedia. Salem Press.

Although instances of misinformation go back to ancient history, only within the past several years has misinformation risen as an area of research, study, and news. In 2017, Collins Dictionary designated the term "fake news" as its Word of the Year, and in 2018, Dictionary.com decreed "misinformation" to be its Word of the Year, hoping to serve as a call to action to practice vigilance and identify intent.

Whether the spread is inadvertent or deliberate, the more people get exposed to misinformation, the more likely they are to believe it and share it with others. The proliferation and unruliness of misinformation pose serious consequences, some of which you have witnessed in real time. These consequences include, but are not limited to:

• Questioning and/or diminishing the credibility of sources, authors, and/or experts
• Diminishing belief or trust in scientific findings
• Committing actions while only using false, misleading, or deceptive information
• Confirming personal biases or emotions
• Swaying public opinions
• Offering platforms for hate speech, harmful rhetoric, and conspiracies

Misinformation played a big role during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the early 2020s, as emotions ran high, quarantine measures were introduced, scientific facts emerged, and vaccines were in development. Misinformation also affected reporting of natural disasters like 2024 Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, as well as high-profile accidents like the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment and the 2024 Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland. Misinformation can even sway political elections, as seen in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 U.S. Presidential elections, and the UK Brexit Referendum.

Even with fact-checking features on some social media apps, it is difficult to contain misinformation once it spreads. However, you can protect yourself and build immunity by strengthening your media literacy and identifying the aspects, statistics, and strategies behind misinformation. This guide will further explore these features.

Reference
'Misinformation' picked as word of the year by Dictionary.com. (2018, November 26). The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/nov/26/misinformation-word-of-the-year-dictionarycom