What is online disinformation?
Disinformation is false information that is deliberately intended to mislead. It is sometimes called “fake news”.
Misinformation is false information that is shared without the intention of misleading. Any type of false information can cause harm.
How disinformation works - Social media algorithms, artificial intelligence and social media influencers all contribute to the spread of disinformation.
Algorithms - Social media platforms are built to capture and hold your attention for as long as possible. They use algorithms to place content in your feed that you are likely to interact with.
The more you engage with false information, the more that kind of content will show up in your feed. Online disinformation is designed to trigger an emotional response like surprise or anger. This makes people more likely to share it, causing the algorithm to amplify the content even further.
How disinformation harms you - Most of us make decisions about our lives based on information we find online. Those decisions may be about our health, our finances, or other issues affecting our families and communities. When we base our decisions on bad information, the choices we make may not be in our best interests.
Confusion - Disinformation makes it harder to find factual content you can trust. Even if you don’t believe it, disinformation can create doubt and confusion. It can cause you to delay making important decisions that could affect your wellbeing. Disinformation can continue to influence your beliefs even after you find out something is not true.
Health - Disinformation is particularly harmful when it concerns our health. For example: COVID-19 disinformation or health scams.
Money - Financial disinformation causes harm in various ways. For example: bad investments or Cryptocurrency scams.
Democracy
Successful democracies rely on:
Disinformation can damage each of these by attacking, polarizing, and misinforming people. At its worst, disinformation can lead to political harassment, hate and violence.
Disinformation is also used by foreign states seeking to threaten the integrity of our elections and undermine confidence in the results.
Tips and tools to spot disinformation - Disinformation can be hard to spot. These tips and tools can help you figure out if something you see online is true or not.
Look out for emotional red flags
Disinformation is designed to trigger your emotions. Shock, anger, fear and laughter all make us more likely to share content with others.
Emotional red flags include content that:
If something you come across online really hits a nerve, consider doing a quick fact-check before sharing it with others.
Use fact-checking tools and services - MediaSmarts offers these 4 tips to check if something is true online:
Do a reverse image search - A reverse image search can reveal if an image has been altered or copied from elsewhere on the internet. To reverse search an image, copy the image, or the image’s URL into the search bar of an image search tool.
Search results will show if the image appears in other locations on the internet.
Image search tools:
Spot spoof websites - Fake news stories can be posted on fraudulent websites that are made to look legitimate. This is called spoofing.
These tips can help you spot a spoof:
WHOIS lookup tools:
Spot fake social media accounts - Disinformation is often spread using fake social media accounts. The Better Business Bureau recommends these tips for spotting fakes:
Counter disinformation - You’ve fact-checked a piece of online content and discovered that it is false. What next?
If you do choose to take action, consider these 4 tips from MediaSmarts.
Find out more - Use your online influence to spread facts, not fakes. Consider sharing these resources about disinformation with your networks.
Non-government resources from across Canada
Government of Canada resources
International resources
For more information on this issue visit: Online disinformation - Canada.ca
