You may be familiar with the concept of health misinformation: conspiracy theories, well-intentioned advice not backed by science, or common misconceptions spreading through the Internet and social media.
But what about disinformation? It’s common to use the terms “disinformation” and “misinformation” interchangeably. But there’s an important distinction between the two. …
Health disinformation is intentionally created and distributed by people who know it’s false. Their goal – to deceive or manipulate people, often for a specific reason. Unlike health misinformation, which may start innocently, disinformation is designed to deceive.
Why do people do this? There are a variety of motivations, none of them good. People create and distribute health disinformation to drive profit, push ideological agendas, cause panic and fear, or erode trust in institutions such as health care providers or public agencies.
Related on the SLP
Most social media accounts that share disinformation often share common characteristics:
- Recently created
- Only talk about this one specific topic
- Contain sparse details on the owner of their account in their profile
- Appear to have a lot of activity (such as followers and/or posts) but very little actual engagement. Beware the bots!
