Disinformation

Deliberate misinformation
Dependence on disinformation

Nature

“Misinformation” is information that is factually inaccurate but is passed along by a purveyor who is ignorant of the inaccuracy and does not intend to deceive. “Disinformation,” on the other hand, is information the purveyor knows is false yet deliberatively imparts with the intention of deceiving or misleading.

Disinformation is to communications what a diversion is to a military manoeuvre. It is information which has the semblance of truth, leaked or made available to espionage or to the media, in order to create attitudes or provoke actions favourable to the objectives of the disinformers. In some cases of social statistics, disinformation is provided to international collecting agencies solely to make programmes and policies of incumbent regimes appear progressive and productive. Disinformation is therefore static in the entire international communications network, civil or military, commercial or political.

Background

Disinformation emerged as a recognized global concern during the 20th century, notably with state-sponsored propaganda campaigns in wartime and the Cold War. Its significance intensified with the advent of mass media and, later, digital platforms, where the rapid spread of false information influenced public opinion and political processes worldwide. Recent high-profile incidents, such as election interference and pandemic-related falsehoods, have heightened international awareness of disinformation’s pervasive and destabilizing impact.

Incidence

Government, military and other bureaucracies are organized in such a way that reports from lower echelons must necessarily contain a certain percentage of disinformation in order to meet with the approval of the higher echelons to which they are submitted. Programme reports are written so as to give the best possible interpretation to the actions of those responsible for their implementation and thus further (or protect) their future careers. In intergovernmental organizations writing 'positively' is often encouraged.

Claim

Disinformation is so pervasive because distrust of traditional sources of authority, including the news media, keeps increasing. When people think the mainstream media is not holding industries and governments to account, they may be more likely to accept information that challenges conventional beliefs.

Counter-claim

No state, university, or ecclesiastical committee has ever been in possession of the full truth of any matter. Official orthodoxies have always been challenged by heterodox thinkers. Indeed, virtually every major advance in human insight has been performed by heterodox thinkers.