Term

Definition

Source

Misinformation

“inaccurate info” (Sorgatz, 2018, p 11).

The Encyclopedia of Misinformation

“is false information that is shared without intention of misleading” (Government of Canada, 2023, para 1).

Government of Canada

“(noun) incorrect or misleading information” (Merriam-Webster, nd).

Merriam-Webster.com

Disinformation

“inaccurate info spread malevolently” (Sorgatz, 2018, p 11).

The Encyclopedia of Misinformation

“is false information that is deliberately intended to mislead” (Government of Canada, 2023, para 1).

Government of Canada

“(noun) false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth” (Merriam-Webster, nd).

Merriam-Webster.com

Malinformation

“accurate info spread malevolently” (Sorgatz, 2018, p 11).

The Encyclopedia of Misinformation

“(noun) false news stories, often of a sensational nature, created to be widely shared or distributed for the purpose of generating revenue, or promoting or discrediting a public figure, political movement, company, etc.” (Dictionary.com, n.d).

Dictionary.com

“(noun) false, often sensational, information disseminated under the guise of news reporting” Collins Dictionary, 2019).

Collins Dictionary.com

Deepfake

 “a type of “synthetic media,” meaning media (including images, audio and video) that is either manipulated or wholly generatedby AI. Technology…” (Schick, 2020m p. 8).  

Deepfakes: The Coming Infocalypse

“(noun) a fake, digitally manipulated video or audio file produced by using deep learning, an advanced type of machine learning, and typically featuring a person’s likeness and voice in a situation that did not actually occur” (Dictionary.com, n.d).

Dictionary.com

“(noun) an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said” (Merriam-Webster, n.d).

Merriam-Webster.com

Conspiracy Theory

 “(noun) a theory that rejects the standard explanation for an event and instead credits a covert group or organization with carrying out a secret plot” (Dictionary.com, n.d)

 Dictionary.com

“(noun) a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators” (Merriam-Webster, n.d)

Merriam-Webster.com

Confirmed Bias

 “overwhelming tendency to seek out information that conforms with existing beliefs while ignoring facts that contradict entrenched viewpoints” (Sorgatz, 2018, p 65).

The Encyclopedia of Misinformation

is defined as “people’s tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with their existing beliefs. This biased approach to decision making is largely unintentional, and it results in a person ignoring information that is inconsistent with their beliefs” (Casad and Luebering, 2023, para. 1).  

Encyclopaedia Britannica

“(noun) the tendency, esp in academic research, to interpret and present information in a way that supports one's existing beliefs” (Collins dictionary, n,d).

Collins Dictionary.com

“a situation in which people only hear opinions of one type, or opinions that are similar to their own” (Cambridge Dictionary,  n.d).

“…a social media echo chamber is usually thought of as a situation in which beliefs and opinions are amplified and reinforced within a closed media system” (Van der Linden, 2023, p. 107).  

Foolproof : Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds And How To Build Immunity

“Online group where members or visitors encounter and reinforce beliefs or opinions similar to what they already believe in” (Omoregie & Ryall, 2023, p. 76).

Misinformation Matters: Online Content And Quality Analysis

“a situation in which someone only hears or sees news and information that supports what they already believe and like, especially a situation created on the internet as a result of algorithms (= sets of rules) that choose the results of someone's searches” (Cambridge Dictionary,  n.d).

“…the reinforcement of beliefs is influenced by the algorithmic selection of content by an online platform” (Omoregie & Ryall, 2023, p. 76)

Coined by Eli Pariser, “a filter bubble…is based on your personal search history, your unique click behaviour and other digital footprint, algorithms produce a pretty good guess of what you would like to see and tailor content accordingly” (Van der Linden, 2023, p. 108).

References

Burkhardt, Joanna M. “History of fake news.” Library Technology Reports 53.8 (2017): 5–2.

Casad, B. J. and Luebering, . J.E. (2023, February 3). Confirmation bias. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/confirmation-bias

Cambridge Dictionary. (n.d). “Echo chamber”.  In Cambridge English Dictionary. CambridgeDictionary.org.  Retrieved December 3, 2023, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/echo-chamber

Cambridge Dictionary. (n.d). “Filter bubble”.  In Cambridge English Dictionary. CambridgeDictionary.org.  Retrieved December 3, 2023, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/filter-bubble

Collins Dictionary. (n.d). “Confirmation bias”.  In Collins English Dictionary. Collinsdictionary.com.  Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/confirmation-bias

Collins Dictionary. (2019, May 7). “Fake news definition and meaning”.  In Collins English Dictionary. Collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/fake-news

De Paor, S., & Heravi, B. (2020). Information literacy and fake news: How the field of librarianship can help combat the epidemic of fake news. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 46(5), 102218-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2020.102218Print.

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). “Conspiracy theories”. In Dictionary.com. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/conspiracy-theory

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). “Deepfake”. In Dictionary.com. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/deepfake

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). “Fake news”. In Dictionary.com. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/fake-news

Government of Canada. (2023, February 7). Online disinformation. https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/online-disinformation.html

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). “Conspiracy theory”. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conspiracy%20theory

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Deepfake. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deepfake

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). “Disinformation”. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disinformation

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). “Misinformation”. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misinformation

Omoregie, U., & Ryall, K. (2023). Misinformation matters: online content and quality analysis (1st ed., Vol. 1). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003308348

Rex Sorgatz. (2018). The encyclopedia of misinformation : a compendium of Imitations, spoofs, delusions, simulations, counterfeits, impostors, illusions, confabulations, skullduggery, ... conspiracies & miscellaneous Fakery. ABRAMS Image.

Schick, N. (2020). Deepfakes The Coming Infocalypse. Grand Central Publishing.

Van der Linden, S. (2023). Foolproof : why misinformation infects our minds and how to build immunity (First American edition.). W.W. Norton & Company.