Misinformation versus disinformation
Recently ran into this distinction, which I think is important , yet disturbing, for librarians, educators, and civic leaders in a democracy.
Misinformation is false or inaccurate information, which is inadvertently or purposely transferred or shared. It leads the listener or reader to have incorrect information on a subject. It can be challenged or corrected easily by another person with more information.
Disinformation is " chaotic information" which is intended to confuse or obfuscate the information on a subject, so to sow chaos and disorder to the world of information. It leads the listener or reader to not understand the subject, to be misled what information means for the person and the community, and to reach false conclusions surrounding the subject. With this chaos, it is difficult to have a meaningful discussion.
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I have read various definitions of these two terms. I like the distinction you make here between them, but I'm not sure this distinction (or any distinction) is commonly agreed on by most librarians. For me, "disinformation" has always had a slightly more ominous ring to it than "misinformation." I think both terms grew in popularity (and were often used interchangeably) as it became more and more distasteful to use the more informal phrase "fake news" after Donald Trump co-opted it. Going forward, it will be interesting to see if the terms come to have more specific meanings, especially within the context of librarianship.
Gary, thank you for laying out the distinctions. They are extremely important to understand, especially for this discussion.