Disinformation

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"Disinformation" link (propaganda, enemy image)
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Disinformation is a word used by those in power to malign opinions and people they don't like, and as a scientific-sounding pretext for censorship. Those in power often use projection when accusing others of spreading disinformation, as the official narratives tends to be full of lies and omissions. Can also be a real thing.

Regularly confused with the similar oh-so scientific-sounding words "malinformation", "misinformation" or simply information.

Disinformation is a word used by those in power to malign opinions and people they don't like, and as a scientific-sounding pretext for censorship. Those in power often use projection when accusing others of spreading disinformation, as the official narratives tends to be full of lies and omissions. Can also be a real thing.

Official narrative

Most linguists believe that the English word “disinformation” is a literal translation of the Russian "dezinformatsiya”, a term that Joseph Stalin is personally credited for coining. "Disinformation" was defined in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1952) as “false information with the intention to deceive public opinion”. The KGB used the term in the early 1950s to name a department specifically created to dispense propaganda.

Although, the word "disinformation" was certainly used by English-speaking Intelligence Agencies (CIA, MI6), it did not appear in English dictionaries until 1985, specifically in the Webster’s New College Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary. English use increased in 1986, after revelations that the Reagan Administration engaged in "disinformation" against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

By 1990, the term "disinformation" began to be used outside the world of Intelligence and fully established itself within the lexicon of politics. By 2000, the term had become a polite synonym of "lies" while it was at the same time often used to describe propaganda.

In 2017, the term “fake news” was named Collins' Word of the Year. Collins defines it as “false, often sensational, information disseminated under the guise of news reporting”.

Lexicon

"Misinformation":

False (incorrect or misleading) information

"Disinformation":

False information that is given to people in order to make them believe something false or to hide the truth.

False information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumours) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.

Kaspersky

Watch on YouTube

Speaker: Matt Tait (University of Texas)

In April 2018, Kaspersky posted a video on YouTube:

Over the past few months there's been a lot of talk in the media about "fake news" and "disinformation", especially in relation to the hacking and disclosure of thousands of emails belonging to the DNC and John Podesta during the 2016 US presidential election. But while the DNC hack may be the most recent high-profile example, "disinformation" and other forms of information warfare are not new – even in US political campaigns.

It isn’t the sole preserve of nation-states, and isn’t just limited to influencing elections. What is new is how modern technology like social media, machine-learning, targeted advertising and, yes, hacking have all led to a massive explosion in the scale and effectiveness of "disinformation".

So what is "disinformation"? How did we get here? What does the future of information warfare look like? And perhaps most importantly, what can we do to build software that is trustworthy even when facts appear to no longer matter and truth itself is under assault from all directions?

Examples

{{#subobject: |Has superobject=Disinformation |Has objectClass=Quotation |Has author=Caitlin Johnstone|+sep=, |Has text=“The weirdest thing about the Biden administration tasking itself with the censorship of "disinformation" on social media is that the United States is the hub of a globe-spanning empire that is built upon a foundation of disinformation, maintained by disinformation, and facilitated by disinformation.” |Is about=Disinformation,disinformation, censorship, social media|+sep=, |Has wikipediaPage= |Has location=|+sep=, |Has publicationDate=July 2021 |Sourced from= |Has sourceDetails= |Has sourceTitle= |Has sourceName= |Has sourceURL=https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/weve-got-fight-disinformation-says-empire-made-entirely-disinformation

}}

“The weirdest thing about the Biden administration tasking itself with the censorship of "disinformation" on social media is that the United States is the hub of a globe-spanning empire that is built upon a foundation of disinformation, maintained by disinformation, and facilitated by disinformation.”
Caitlin Johnstone (July 2021) 

{{#subobject: |Has superobject=Disinformation |Has objectClass=Quotation |Has author=Matt Kennard|+sep=, |Has text=“If you see an org fighting "disinformation" you can be sure somewhere down line it's funded by UK or US government. This is their favoured tactic for regaining control of narrative in age of social media: tainting info not received through legacy media (which they captured long ago).” |Is about=Disinformation,disinformation, official narrative, legacy media|+sep=, |Has wikipediaPage= |Has location=|+sep=, |Has publicationDate=3 February 2025 |Sourced from= |Has sourceDetails= |Has sourceTitle= |Has sourceName= |Has sourceURL=https://x.com/kennardmatt/status/1886346822509084760

}}

“If you see an org fighting "disinformation" you can be sure somewhere down line it's funded by UK or US government. This is their favoured tactic for regaining control of narrative in age of social media: tainting info not received through legacy media (which they captured long ago).”
Matt Kennard (3 February 2025) 

{{#subobject: |Has superobject=Disinformation |Has objectClass=Quotation |Has author=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China|+sep=, |Has text=“On 28 September 2023, the US Department of State released a landmark report on how the People’s Republic of China seeks to reshape the global information environment to its advantage by investing billions of dollars to construct a global information ecosystem that promotes its propaganda and facilitates censorship and the spread of "disinformation".

China responded: "The US Department of State report is in itself disinformation as it misrepresents facts and truth. In fact, it is the US that invented the weaponizing of the global information space. The relevant center of the US State Department which concocted the report is engaged in propaganda and infiltration in the name of “global engagement”. It is a source of disinformation and the command center of “perception warfare”.

"From Operation Mockingbird which bribed and manipulated news media for propaganda purposes in the Cold War era, to a vial of white powder and a staged video of the 'White Helmets' cited as evidence to wage wars of aggression in Iraq and Syria earlier this century, and then to the enormous lie made up to smear China’s Xinjiang policy, facts have proven time and again that the US is an 'empire of lies' through and through.

"Even some in the US, such as Senator Rand Paul, acknowledged that the US government is the greatest propagator of "disinformation" in the history of the world."”

|Is about=Disinformation,disinformation, Operation Mockingbird, WMDs, White Helmets|+sep=, |Has wikipediaPage= |Has location=|+sep=, |Has publicationDate=30 September 2023 |Sourced from= |Has sourceDetails= |Has sourceTitle= |Has sourceName= |Has sourceURL=https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1708654696104391165

}}

“On 28 September 2023, the US Department of State released a landmark report on how the People’s Republic of China seeks to reshape the global information environment to its advantage by investing billions of dollars to construct a global information ecosystem that promotes its propaganda and facilitates censorship and the spread of "disinformation".

China responded: "The US Department of State report is in itself disinformation as it misrepresents facts and truth. In fact, it is the US that invented the weaponizing of the global information space. The relevant center of the US State Department which concocted the report is engaged in propaganda and infiltration in the name of “global engagement”. It is a source of disinformation and the command center of “perception warfare”.

"From Operation Mockingbird which bribed and manipulated news media for propaganda purposes in the Cold War era, to a vial of white powder and a staged video of the 'White Helmets' cited as evidence to wage wars of aggression in Iraq and Syria earlier this century, and then to the enormous lie made up to smear China’s Xinjiang policy, facts have proven time and again that the US is an 'empire of lies' through and through.

"Even some in the US, such as Senator Rand Paul, acknowledged that the US government is the greatest propagator of "disinformation" in the history of the world."”
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China (30 September 2023) 

References