Disinformation

Scholars, governments and commentators are using a multiplicity of terms to describe the phenomenon of disinformation. This report uses the term 'disinformation' broadly: we are treating it as an online phenomenon encapsulating the elements of the 'deliberate creation and sharing of false and/or manipulated information', 'designed, presented and promoted to intentionally cause public harm or for profit'. This conception excludes two related phenomena: these are, first, the spread of false or malicious information offline; and, second, the spread of unintentionally false or inaccurate information, which is better described as misinformation