Inoculating someone (in the context of fake news) is an attempt to reduce an individual's susceptibility to accepting fake news by presenting them with misinformation and giving them the tools to recognize it as such. The theory comes directly from an immunological analogy about virus protection; in the psychological sense, inoculation is giving someone a "weakened" version of misleading info, which leads "mental antibodies" formed, making them "immune" to persuasion.

See "How Disinformation is Disseminated"

Inoculation Theory

- Impersonation: Posing as a real person/organization or claiming to be a reputable organization without any credentials. 
- Emotional Content
- Polarization: Using tactics like false amplification to push people to either side of the spectrum.
- Conspiracy
- Discrediting opponents
- Trolling: The act of attempting to elicit a response by baiting.
- Doubtful consensus messaging


Disinformation Strategies

Campaigns that paint a certain course of action as being specific to one’s identity. These campaigns emphasize that not taking that certain action threatens one’s identity itself.

Disinformation Campaigns

1. creating the appearance of a culturally relevant “legitimate” question 
2. framing the issue as an identity-based rather than an information-based concern
3. presenting a clear identity-based choice, and framing alternative choices as identity threatening.

Steps Taken for a "Deformer" to  Effectively Provide Disinformation 

According to Guess & Lyons (2020) misinformation and disinformation differ regarding the author's/creater's intent. Misinformation and Disinformation are often difficult to distinguish because it’s difficult to tell whether someone spread wrong information intentionally (Disinformation) or unintentionally (Misinformation). If political misinformation is spread by politicians it's usually considered as disinformation. Also, fake news which are organized and spread by established news organizations are considered disinformation.

Distinction between Misinformation and Disinformation

- Psychological Stress
- Economic Damage
- Sexual Violence 
- Physical Harm 

Effects of Disinformation Against Minorities in Indonesia 

Disinformation is information that is (verifiably) false or misleading that is purposefully spread to misinform the public. 

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Kalamazoo College

San Jose State University

Arizona State University

- Health Misinformation
- Political Misinformation
- Fake News
- Disinformation
- Misinformation in Online Communities

Types of Misinformation

Nicole A. Cooke. Fake News and Alternative Facts: Information Literacy in a Post-Truth Era. ALA Editions, 2018. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1867933.

Fake News and Alternative Facts: Information Literacy in a Post-Truth Era

Guess, A. M. & Lyons, B. A. (2020). Misinformation, Disinformation, and Online Propaganda. In Persily, N. & Tucker, J. A. (Eds.), Social Media and Democracy: The State of the Field, Prospects for Reform (pp. 10-33). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108890960.003

Misinformation, Disinformation, and Online Propaganda

False information spread through news reporting to intentionally mislead and deceive the public. Malintent is present on behalf of the person(s) creating the news, but not necessarily on behalf of the person(s) spreading the news.

Fake News

As the term indicates, health misinformation is misinformation related to health. Themes might be viruses, food safety, nutrition and vaccinations (Bode & Vraga, 2018; Chen et al., 2018; Lazer et al., 2018; Lewandowsky et al., 2012; Oh & Lee, 2019). These  misinformation can negatively affect people’s health behaviors (Chou et al., 2018; Oh & Lee, 2019). 

Health misinformation

Misleading, false, or incomplete information concerning or perpetuated by political entities.

Political Misinformation

Disinformation 

Synthetic media is media generated by technology such as AI algorithms. There are fears that it could be used to supercharge fake news, spread misinformation and automate creative jobs

Synthetic Media

Duplicate entries in online communities can amplify misinformation by creating the impression that inaccurate information is more widely accepted or verified than it actually is. When multiple copies of inaccurate information are posted, it can give the false impression that the information is reliable or trustworthy, potentially leading to its rapid spread throughout the community.

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