Hannah Diffee
Professor Reppert
Media Law and Ethics
April 2025
8 - Misinformation, Disinformation, and Fact-Checking
With the rise of social media platforms, information is more easily accessible than ever before. Platforms like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and Instagram allow users to quickly find information about topics they are interested in from anywhere in the world. However, not all information on social media is reliable or accurate.
Misinformation
"Fake news" has become widespread on the internet and social media. It exists in three primary forms: misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation. Misinformation refers to unintentionally misleading information. This category includes "clickbait" titles (like the thumbnail from YouTuber Joey Graceffa below), satire (such as content from the
Babylon Bee), and mistakenly false information. Misinformation is not driven by malicious intent; instead, it aims to attract media attention, add humor to a situation, or keep people informed.
Above: While weighing his new husky puppies, Graceffa became confused and accidentally mixed up some of their weights. His stricken expression in the thumbnail, paired with the vague title, makes the situation seem much more serious than it actually was.
Disinformation
Disinformation is intentionally designed to deceive. This category includes
deepfakes, information taken out of context, and completely inaccurate claims. In January 2024, explicit AI-generated images of
Taylor Swift began to flood social media. One post gained over 45 million views before it was removed. Swift's fans quickly reported the photos, prompting Twitter to momentarily block searches of the star's name on the platform. In response to the images, a group of U.S. senators introduced a bill that would criminalize the spread of "nonconsensual, sexualized images generated by artificial intelligence (
The Guardian). The bill was passed by the Senate in July 2024.
Last August, another AI-generated image of Taylor Swift, this time depicting her endorsement of President Donald Trump, appeared. The original image stated, "Taylor wants you to vote for Joe Biden," but was modified to say, "Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump." Trump reposted the image on his social media platform,
Truth Social, with the caption "I support!" Swift took to Instagram to address the image, sharing her support for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and urging fans to vote in the November election.
Fact-Checking
Because misinformation and disinformation are so prevalent on social media, many helpful tools exist to help netizens distinguish fact from fiction. One such tool is X's Community Notes feature. The feature aims to "create a better informed world by empowering people on X to collaboratively add context to potentially misleading posts." Users can sign up to be contributors, which allows them to write and rate notes on both posts and comments.
Highlights of the feature, according to X:
- The more people who participate, the better the program becomes.
- Only notes rated helpful by people from diverse perspectives appear on posts.
- X doesn't choose what shows up; the people do.
- Open-source and transparent
The following two images are amusing examples of Community Notes in action.
Community notes were initially only visible to U.S. users but are now accessible worldwide. In addition to catching users, they have highlighted misinformation shared by tabloids, such as The New York Post.
Ground News is also an excellent resource for fact-checking and examining different viewpoints on an issue. For more details, check out my
News App Critique from Reporting and Writing for the Mass Media.
Being a responsible internet user involves understanding the differences between misinformation and disinformation, having media literacy, and recognizing when online information is intended to cause more harm than good.
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