Misinformation is false information that is shared, often inadvertently and without the intention of causing harm. An example of this could be an individual sharing information which they believed to be true, without properly evaluating and analyzing the information, or determining if the information is based in fact. The individual did not share the information with the intention of misleading others, but the action of sharing the information can still result in harm. For example, sharing a friend’s social media post claiming widespread voter fraud during an election without verifying where they received this information.

Disinformation is false information that is created and shared with the direct intention of misleading or manipulating the recipient of the information. An example of this could be an organization fabricating information about a particular segment of society to sway the public’s perception or opinion. For example, the continued strategic linking of immigrants and refugees to criminality.

Malinformation is false information that has some basis in fact, but which has been removed from its original context, manipulated or exaggerated to mislead the recipient of the information. For example, sharing a photograph of a real protest but saying that the protest was in support of an unrelated, or opposing, cause.

The spread of misleading or biased information is not new. While the term “propaganda” only dates to the 17^th century, the principle of manipulating information as an attempt to influence public opinion has been in use for thousands of years. Over the last three decades the evolution of communication technologies has made it easier for governments, organizations and individuals to share and spread information. Through social media we can access mass amounts of content and the ability to reach mass audiences however, our ability to share and receive misinformation, disinformation and malinformation has increased exponentially as well. This has direct impacts on human rights both in terms of setting the stage for human rights violations as well as thwarting human rights organizing and activism.

The development of strong information literacy skills is an important step in being able to understand, assess, and evaluate information and to distinguish between information that is true, accurate and factual and information that is false, misleading, and incorrect.

This resource guide points to a selection of books, academic articles, news and magazine reports, documentaries, podcasts, and more that explore these concepts.

• Fake News and Information Literacy (University of Oregon Libraries)
• Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (American College and Research Libraries)
• Information for All Programme (UNESCO)
• La littératie médiatique : consommer et produire de l’information intelligemment (Bulletin SSF)
• Littératie médiatique et désinformation chez les jeunes des communautés francophones en situation minoritaire au Canada : Enquête auprès des 16–25 ans pendant la pandémie (Acfas)
• Littératie numérique et médiatique (The Alberta Teacher’s Association)
• What is information literacy? (University of Toronto Libraries)

• Bringing Superheroes into the Fight Against COVID‐19 Misinformation (Caravan Magazine)
• ‘La Firme’ The Official Socialist Comic Book of 1970s Chile (We are the Mutants)
• Real Fake: Resilience Series (Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency)
• The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media
  Gladstone, Brooke, et al. The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media. W.W. Norton, 2011.
• Won't Get Fooled Again: A Graphic Guide to Fake News
  Steuter, Erin and Alan Spinney. Won't Get Fooled Again: A Graphic Guide to Fake News. Between the Lines, 2020.

• Concerns with Misinformation Online, 2023 (Statistics Canada)
• Préoccupations concernant la mésinformation en ligne, 2023 (Statistics Canada)
• Propagation de la Mésinformation : Une Analyse Multivariée du Rapport Entre les Caractéristiques Individuelles et les Comportements de Vérification des Faits des Canadiens (Statistics Canada)
• The Spread of Misinformation: A Multivariate Analysis of the Relationship Between Individual Characteristics and Fact‐checking Behaviours of Canadians (Statistics Canada)
   

Here is a selection of terms and their definitions commonly used when discussing issues surrounding misinformation, disinformation and malinformation.