Since the current chatter in the Political Section is about misinformation and disinformation, imo the two terms should
first be defined lest there be any misunderstanding of what they mean and how they apply to this forum.
So let's start there:
- Misinformation is false, misleading, or out-of-context content shared without an intent to deceive.
- Disinformation is purposefully false or misleading content shared with the intent to deceive and cause harm.
There are obviously huge differences in meaning between the two terms as well as their relevance and especially in a Forum
like this where hot, controversial topics, accusations, name calling and insults are the order of the day.
There is also the issue of intent which needs to be considered when someone posts something controversial, meaning did/does
the person posting what they did really believe what they posted was/is true, which would mean it should be considered
misinformation of those who disagree with what was/is posted as opposed to disinformation, which would imply that the person
posting it, in reality, did/does not believe it is true and is simply trying to spread a lie.
For me there is also a gray area between these two extremes.
The bottom line though is that in most cases it is difficult to prove intent.
Two glaring examples of this are found this thread and have propagated mostly by sbd.
1) Trump is going to be reinstated/devolututioned on specific dates or that is imminent in the near future.
He has predicted this literally too many times to count since Bide was inaugurated.
The obvious question is whether he really believes this is going to occur, which in retrospect would make it misinformation
since it hasn't occurred yet if he really believes what he has predicted OR disinformation if he really does not believe
what he has predicted and is simply spreading his thoughts and prediction to try to mislead people.
Personally I believe the answer is in the gray area I described above, meaning it is a combination of both.
2) The second example is sbd's contention that hundreds of notable members of the ds including the Clintons and
many other prominent people whose names I have posted before a number of times have in fact all been arrested,
shipped off to GITMO and have been executed over the last few years even though we have seen and heard many times
in public, tv, on internet, etc these same folks are still very much alive.
When questioned about this in the past about this apparent contradiction, he has stated that the folks who he cited as having been
executed were in fact executed and when these folks appear to be seen and heard today, what we are really witnessing are
body doubles, paid actors and actresses, optics, etc to convince us otherwise.
For me this is an example of disinformation rather than misinformation, as I simply cannot conceive of such a notion of these
people all being dead when all of the empirical evidence suggests otherwise.
That's it, and thanks to those who took the trouble to read what I believe needs to be pointed out about the
difference, distinction, significance and importance of the two terms.
