Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1955, from Russian dezinformatsiya (1949), which is said to be from French; see dis- + information.
Wiktionary
n. The dissemination of intentionally false information to deliberately confuse or mislead.
WordNet
n. misinformation that is deliberately disseminated in order to influence or confuse rivals (foreign enemies or business competitors etc.)
Wikipedia
Disinformation is intentionally false or inaccurate information that is spread deliberately. It is an act of deception and false statements to convince someone of untruth. Disinformation should not be confused with misinformation, information that is unintentionally false.
Unlike traditional propaganda techniques designed to engage emotional support, disinformation is designed to manipulate the audience at the rational level by either discrediting conflicting information or supporting false conclusions. A common disinformation tactic is to mix some truth and observation with false conclusions and lies, or to reveal part of the truth while presenting it as the whole (a limited hangout).
Another technique of concealing facts, or censorship, is also used if the group can affect such control. When channels of information cannot be completely closed, they can be rendered useless by filling them with disinformation, effectively lowering their signal-to-noise ratio and discrediting the opposition by association with many easily disproved false claims.
The Disinformation Company (abbreviated as Disinfo) was a privately held, limited American publishing company until 2012 when it was sold to Red Wheel/Weiser/Conari it also owned Disnformation Books which focused on current affairs titles and books exposing alleged conspiracy theories, occultism, politics, news oddities and purported disinformation. It is headquartered in New York City, New York. Arguably, its most visible publications to date are 50 Things You're Not Supposed to Know and the Everything You Know About (subject) is Wrong series, both by the company's editor-at-large Russ Kick.
Disinformation, also known as Disinfo Nation, was a television show hosted by Richard Metzger. It was aired for two seasons on Channel 4 in the UK as part of their late night "4Later" programming block. Called a "punk rock 60 Minutes" and "wilder than Jackass" by the Los Angeles Times and Wired magazine respectively, the sixteen 30-minute episodes produced for C4 (and several segments never aired in the UK) were then cut down to four one-hour "specials" intended for the Sci Fi Channel in America, but never aired due to the controversial nature of what was portrayed on screen. According to interviews Metzger was told just twelve days prior to the first specials' air-date that he would have to cut 50% of the material from the show in order to pass the USA Network's corporate lawyers' scrutiny. Those four shows have subsequently been released on a DVD with a second bonus disc presenting highlights of The DisinfoCon, a twelve-hour event featuring shock rocker Marilyn Manson, underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger, painter Joe Coleman, and others such as Douglas Rushkoff, Mark Pesce, Grant Morrison, and Robert Anton Wilson.
Disinformation is the deliberate dissemination of false information.
It may also refer to:
- Disinformation (album), a 1999 album by Tin Huey
- Disinformation (book), a 2013 book by Ronald Rychlak and Ion Mihai Pacepa
- Disinformation (Sinplus), a 2012 album by Sinplus
- Disinformation (TV series), a Channel 4 television series
Disinformation is an experimental rock and new wave album released by Tin Huey in 1999 through Future Fossil Records.
Usage examples of "disinformation".
Jake could see the two of them huddled like thieves on the bridge, plotting every detail of the antismoking campaign and the subsequent disinformation cover-up to deflect the outrage of the addicted.
What Mike suggested we do is put out some disinformation that Ngune and about two hundred of his men have amassed on the Chadian border to try and retake Kondese within the next twelve hours so the CIA will still believe that they can overthrow Jamel and the government.
One can find ample and continuous documentation of these techniques of disinformation and silencing in publications ranging from Le Monde Diplomatique to Z Magazine and the Covert Action Bulletin.
At every strategic moment this century, liberals would wage a campaign of horrendous lies and disinformation to dull the discovery that the American people had made.
Modern police work involved packs of assiduous silver surfers checking objective data, carefully attempting to sort the relevant from the irrelevant, and the real information from misinformation and disinformation.
It wasn't until the ayatollah's death in 1989--when the secret communiques said he was recovering--that the CIA went back and took a close look at the code and the disinformation they'd received.
Something in one of her pockets twitched, then began to recite brightly: "We provide a wide range of business services, including metamagical consultancy, stock trading and derivatives analysis systems, and a full range of communications and disinformation tools for the discerning corporate space warrior.
The embezzling story was ludicrous, of course, obviously disinformation from Achilles, though all the predictable nations were in an uproar about it, demanding inquiries: China, Russia, France.
Just to ensure everyone appreciated the gravity of the situation, the disinformation specialist Reg Dafoe started the rumor that the Meals On Wheels and home care services were going to be privatized, with the bidding system already rigged to let the contracts to the Witnesses for higher fees and poorer services.
While purporting to rail against what may be genuine plans of a New World Order cabal, Koernke slips in just enough ridiculous disinformation to discredit his thesis, and by association, anyone who supports it.