One of the author’s main complaints is that no one agrees on what “misinformation” actually means. And he’s right, there is confusion. So let’s be precise.
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There is confusion, but he provides tables with definitions that line up with each other pretty well. The confusion is when people use these terms casually.
Media scholar Clare Wardle and colleagues developed a helpful typology:
Disinformation = false or misleading information spread deliberately to deceive or manipulate.
Yes, and in my work I point to the parallel between the lose of public trust in institutions after WW1 propaganda and after the invasion of Iraq as key moments. Both moments required rebuilding public trust in foundational democratic ideals, but its not really happened post 2003
Plus we then had the financial crisis, and time and time again we saw the institutions we had trusted to perform the verification, deliberation and accountability functions fail to live up to expectations, or wildly violate those expectations.
Misinformation = false or misleading information spread by people who believe it’s true.
Malinformation = true information used in misleading or harmful ways.
These categories help us move beyond vague fears and look more clearly at the different forms that harmful information can take. But even this isn’t the full picture.
The real danger comes when this material forms disordered discourse, systems of belief that reinforce themselves, reject correction, and disconnect people from any shared standard of reality.
The Cato paper treats harmful information as just a few false claims floating around online. It says people rarely fall for it, the damage is minor, and the real problem is elite overreaction. This radically understates the scale and nature of the issue.
"The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and ***Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries***- wikipedia
The danger isn’t just that people believe lies. It’s that entire communities become locked into belief systems that can’t be challenged, where loyalty replaces evidence, and disagreement feels like betrayal. That doesn’t just distort truth, it breaks trust.
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Disinformation = false or misleading information spread deliberately to deceive or manipulate.
https://vivo.brown.edu/display/cwardle
Malinformation = true information used in misleading or harmful ways.
https://bsky.app/profile/cwebbonline.com/post/3lsmii2ndmk2h
"Not surprisingly, Murray’s anti-regulation manifesto is being giddily promoted by right-wing organizations like the American Enterprise Institute, Murray’s institutional home, as well as the CATO Institute..."
https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/post/charles-murray-wants-right-wing-to-use-scientology-strategy-in-legal-war-on-u-s-government