Disinformation is false content that someone produces and circulates on purpose, knowing it is wrong, in order to manipulate public opinion or behavior. The deception can be a fabricated story, a doctored image, a real fact stripped of context, or a coordinated campaign that mixes all three across many platforms.
In practice, disinformation usually rides on real events. Foreign intelligence services, partisan operatives, and for-profit content farms graft invented details onto genuine news, then push the result through fake accounts, paid influencers, and sympathetic media until it looks like organic conversation. The 2017 ODNI assessment of Russia 2016 election interference is one well-documented case.
The hardest cases sit on the edges. Honest mistakes are misinformation, not disinformation, and protected political speech often looks identical to a foreign influence operation. Tools that target disinformation can sweep up domestic political speech, which is why courts treat government action against it with extra care.
Disinformation lets bad actors set the terms of public debate cheaply — and when it works, voters, juries, and lawmakers act on false premises. Cutting federal teams that track it (as the FY2026 CISA budget proposes) shifts that defense onto private platforms and state officials.
People often use disinformation and misinformation interchangeably. Disinformation is intentionally deceptive; misinformation is false content shared without intent to deceive.
Disinformation lets bad actors set the terms of public debate cheaply — and when it works, voters, juries, and lawmakers act on false premises. Cutting federal teams that track it (as the FY2026 CISA budget proposes) shifts that defense onto private platforms and state officials.
People often use disinformation and misinformation interchangeably. Disinformation is intentionally deceptive; misinformation is false content shared without intent to deceive.