誤情報と偽情報 | 概要、違い、拡散方法

Misinformation and Disinformation | Overview, Differences, How It Is Spread, Free Expression, & AI | Britannica Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos misinformation and disinformation Introduction & Top Questions What is the difference between misinformation and disinformation? Mis- and disinformation in the 21st century’s increasingly complex information landscape Why people spread mis- and disinformation and why people fall for it Free speech and the liar’s dividend The emerging role of AI and what we can do in response References & Edit History Related Topics print Print Please select which sections you would like to print: Table Of Contents CITE verified Cite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/topic/misinformation-and-disinformation Feedback Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. External Websites misinformation and disinformation Ask Anything Quick Summary Homework Help Written by John Palfrey John Palfrey is President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. John Palfrey Fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors History Britannica AI Ask Anything Quick Summary Table of Contents Table of Contents Quick Summary Ask Anything Top Questions What is the difference between misinformation and disinformation? Misinformation is false information spread without intent to harm, while disinformation is false information deliberately spread to mislead and manipulate facts. How does misinformation spread quickly on social media? Misinformation spreads quickly on social media because users can easily share false information with a simple click, often without verifying its accuracy, leading to rapid dissemination. What impact does disinformation have on elections? Disinformation affects elections by spreading false narratives that undermine trust in the electoral process, influencing public opinion and voter behavior. How did mis- and disinformation affect the COVID-19 pandemic? During the COVID-19 pandemic , mis- and disinformation spread false claims about cures, treatments, and vaccine risks, leading to confusion, lower vaccination rates, and preventable deaths. What role does AI play in spreading disinformation? Artificial intelligence enables the creation of deepfakes and other manipulated content, allowing for more sophisticated disinformation campaigns that can mislead voters and influence public opinion. Misinformation is the inadvertent spread of false information without intent to harm, while disinformation is false information designed to mislead others and is deliberately spread with the intent to confuse fact and fiction. Identifying and combating the spread of mis- and disinformation is a major challenge in the increasingly complex information landscape of the 21st century. What do you think? Does social media spur digital addiction and other ills? Explore the ProCon debate What is the difference between misinformation and disinformation? Misinformation can occur when individuals or organizations unwittingly get the facts wrong. Misinformation often surfaces when a breaking news story is unfolding and details have not yet been confirmed. Another instance of misinformation is when people share false information as a fact without thoroughly checking that the information they are sharing is accurate. In 2018 Dictionary.com deemed misinformation its word of the year. The term was first used in the late 16th century. In his 1756 work, Memoirs of the King of Prussia, Part I , the English critic Samuel Johnson employed the concept in writing about Frederick II , stating that the king had professed himself strongly opposed to the use of torture . However, Johnson suggested that the king was misinformed in accusing the English of still employing torture at that time: He declares himself with great ardour against the use of torture; and by some misinformation, charges the English that they still retain it. Misinformation can spread easily despite a lack of malicious intent. A 2018 study of Twitter (now known as X ) users by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that false information spreads more quickly than accurate information. Take, for example, a rapidly spreading social media post about a new celebrity couple that is shared repeatedly before being debunked as a rumor, a joke, or gossip. For someone scrolling through an app, a quick “one click” can easily share the false information, unintentionally causing the fake claim to spread like wildfire. Even if the original post or claim is modified, if people have already shared the information in separate posts, the misinformation can be actively and repeatedly spread with no accountability for those sharing the false rumor. Misinformation is false information spread inadvertently without intent to harm. While the consequences of spreading misinformation can have varying degrees of impact, misinformation can lead to decreased trust in all information on the Internet . In turn, this mistrust can erode democratic systems and undermine the news ecosystem. As in the case of the common fable of the “boy who cried wolf,” if people find that the information they consume on a common basis is often false, it will lead them to distrust or not believe crucial and important information that is true. Unlike misinformation, disinformation is false information that is designed to mislead others and is deliberately spread with the intent to manipulate truth and facts. The term disinformation is derived from the Russian word dezinformácija . The Russian government first began using disinformation as a political tactic with its establishment in 1923 of a special office for the purpose of spreading false propaganda . Disinformation did not appear in English dictionaries until the late 1980s, a few years after the United States began responding to an international disinformation campaign involving a fabricated September 1980 Presidential Review Memorandum on Africa. The false document claimed that America supported the system of apartheid in South Africa and persecuted Black Americans, accusations that U.S. Pres. Jimmy Carter could not let stand. Everyone is susceptible to disinformation; it is easy to spread disinformation without ill intentions. Unlike misinformation, though, the foundation of disinformation is malicious and deceptive. It is initially shared with the intent to mislead even if those who subsequently share it do so unwittingly. Disinformation is commonly shared in the form of conspiracy theories , manipulated images, and videos or audio clips. Propaganda and disinformation often go hand in hand. Explore Britannica Premium! The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners. SUBSCRIBE Disinformation is false information that is designed to mislead others and is deliberately spread with the intent to manipulate truth and facts. The spread of mis- and disinformation creates challenges for society, including for democracy . Deliberately creating and spreading disinformation has become a key tactic for those who wish to affect elections . Elected officials, political candidates, activists, corporations, and others acting in bad faith for their own interest and gain can use mis- or disinformation. For example, there is a new and widening partisan gap in approval of mail-in and absentee voting , largely driven by misinformation related to the perceived prevalence of voter fraud in the U.S. presidential election of 2020 . Some political candidates asserted that elections could not be trusted because of the number of votes supposedly cast on behalf of dead people. A study by Stanford University researchers, however, showed that instances of dead people voting were extremely rare in recent United States elections—a mere 14 possible instances of dead people allegedly voting out of a universe of 4.5 million voters in one state over an eight-year period, or 0.0003 percent, not enough to make any kind of effect on any election outcome. There are now large swaths of the American electorate who do not trust that U.S. elections are free, fair, and secure. Throughout 2020 and 2021, bad actors leveraged these claims to generate campaign funds and interest in future campaigns by connecting past disinformation narratives to new incidents. Mis- and disinformation about health became a major issue during the COVID-19 pandemic . With many people confused and concerned about the risks related to COVID-19, a relatively small group of people began pushing a wide variety of misinformation about untested cures and treatments and later risks related to the COVID-19 vaccines , as well as disinformation and conspiracy theories about the virus’s origins. These claims circulated widely online before being amplified by mainstream political and cultural commentators around the world. Like many instances of viral misinformation, these groups took advantage of an information vacuum that formed as many governments were still actively working to understand and communicate the