Misinformation, disinformation, and fake news? Proposing a typology framework of false information

Abstract

Over the past years, misinformation has attracted considerable attention in communication research. While there is now general agreement on what constitutes misinformation, the applicability of relevant definitions to fact-checking practices, computational fake news detection, and legal sanctions is minimal. More importantly, the definitions do not clarify what contributes to information falsity. This article argues that in clarifying the nature of misinformation, the content’s format, the author’s intent, and opinionated information are less of a concern than the traits used to construct misinformation. To make progress in identifying the causes of fake news, the various traits used to construct misinformation should be considered prior to inferring the author’s intentions, but not vice versa. Based on the findings of existing taxonomies and the labels used to provide conclusions in fact-checking reports, a typology framework is proposed, dividing false information into four main categories: fabrication, manipulation, misinterpretation, and providing incomplete information. Such a framework is anticipated to demonstrate practicality for detecting misinformation online. Given that different kinds of false information have different implied intentions, different implications for fake news detection and governance are expected.