Disinformation research, also called disinformation studies or misinformation research, is an academic research field that aims to understand and counter

disinformation Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...

misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information ...

, and

malinformation Malinformation is information which is based on fact, but removed from its original context in order to mislead, harm, or manipulate. Whether something should be considered malinformation can therefore contain an element of subjectivity, and it is ...

. The field provides a systemic framework and research methods for studying multiple interrelated phenomena of deceptive practices, like

fake news Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information (misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and hoaxes) claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person ...

and

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

, with particular attention to the online manipulation tools and tactics used to distort public perception with the intent to harm or profit. This academic field should not be confused with the

phenomenon, because disinformation research is a multidisciplinary academic project that is broader in scope, in that it includes multiple forms of media and Internet manipulation ranging from

fake news website Fake news websites (also referred to as hoax news websites) are websites on the Internet that deliberately publish fake news—hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation purporting to be news, real news—often using social media to drive web traffic ...

s to

on social media.

Definitions

Disinformation research is a joint project by academics and policymakers aiming "to examine the causes and effects of various deceptions, from fake news to conspiracy theories, that permeate society, politics, and business. It also aims to develop countermeasures and policies that mitigate the spread of disinformation while protecting democratic freedoms", and thus "Disinformation research examines disinformation by focusing on its manifestations and designing counterstrategies. It also considers the demand side by exploring why disinformation circulates rapidly on social media and what factors make people vulnerable to consuming and believing it." The

Shorenstein Center The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy is a Harvard Kennedy School research center that explores the intersection and impact of media, politics and public policy in theory and practice. Among other activities, the center or ...

defines disinformation research as an academic field that studies "the spread, impacts, and potential solutions to bad and misleading information in society," including "the causes of misinformation, how it spreads through online and offline channels, why people are susceptible to believing bad information, and successful strategies for mitigating its impact." Research on this field provides

evidence-based research Metascience (also known as meta-research) is the use of scientific methodology to study science itself. Metascience seeks to increase the quality of scientific research while reducing inefficiency. It is also known as "research on research" an ...

on the impact of false or misleading information on society, it explores why people are susceptible to believe it, and explores counter strategies for mitigating its impact.

Background

As an academic field, disinformation research examines the

epistemology Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...

of knowledge, deception, and misleading information. The field is growing rapidly. A 2023 research paper published in

New Media & Society ''New Media & Society'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the fields of sociology, media, and communication. The journal's editor-in-chief is Steve Jones (University of Illinois at Chicago). It has been in publication since 1999 and is p ...

shows that thousands of research papers has the words disinformation or misinformation on their titles or abstracts. Disinformation has been a major scholarly and public area of concern since 2016 "spurred by a resurgence of white, right-wing nationalism exemplified by Brexit and Trump's presidential victory." Between 2020 and 2022, the number within the field increased rapidly due to the emergence of

COVID-19 misinformation False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messagi ...

, resulting from researcher's efforts to counter the overabundance of both real and false narratives. On the other hand, the phenomenon refers to the distribution and amplification of misleading information for harm or profit. In an applied sense, researchers have evidence of the use of disinformation in military conflicts back to Classical Greece. The understanding of disinformation as a form of covert manipulation can be traced to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

after World War II. From an

information warfare Information warfare (IW) is the battlespace use and management of information and communication technology (ICT) in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. It is different from ''cyberwarfare'' that attacks computers, software, and ...

perspective, disinformation is currently understoood as a hybrid threat.

Research fields

Multiple literature reviews have been conducted within disinformation research. Each review classifies the field in different ways. A 2025 bibliographic review characterizes the field as multidisciplinary and draws six research clusters: ''Disinformation and health research'', ''Disinformation research in digital technologies and cybersecurity'', ''Disinformation in journalism and media research'', ''Disinformation research in political communication and democratic governance'', ''Disinformation in psychology and behavioral research'', and ''Disinformation in business and advertising research''.

Disinformation research in political communication and democratic governance

Disinformation in political communication refers to the deliberate use of

deception Deception is the act of convincing of one or many recipients of untrue information. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the information does not. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Tort of ...

to influence political outcomes. It studies the consequences of disinformation on society and trust on democratic institutions. It includes research into the state responses to hybrid security threats, including asymmetric informational warfare, such as the European Union's hybrid threats framework.

Disinformation in journalism and media research

Disinformation in media studies examines the strategies used for

media manipulation Media manipulation refers to orchestrated campaigns in which actors exploit the distinctive features of broadcasting mass communications or digital media platforms to mislead, misinform, or create a narrative that advances their interests and ag ...

. In journalism, disinformation research focuses on fake news and its correction via

fact checking A fact is a true datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by experiments or other means. For e ...

and

media literacy Media literacy is an expanded conceptualization of literacy that includes the ability to access and analyze Media (communication), media messages, as well as create, reflect and take action—using the power of information and communication—to ma ...

. This field also studies how social media amplifies society's polarization.

Disinformation research in digital technologies and cybersecurity.

Researchers have explored the growing use of advanced digital technologies for internet manipulation. Specifically, researchers study the growing use of bots to manipulate social media platforms, a phenomenon called

coordinated inauthentic behavior Astroturfing is the deceptive practice of hiding the sponsors of an orchestrated message or organization (e.g., political, economic, advertising, religious, or public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from, and is supported by ...

. The purposes of this stream include the detection of disinformation at scale, the measurement of impact, the data infrastructures required to study disinformation online without compromising user privacy or data integrity, and ethical guidelines for conducting disinformation research without harm.

Disinformation in business and advertising research

Market-oriented disinformation research is "a research field that investigates the circulation of disinformation—along with its multiple manifestations like fake news and conspiracy theories—from a business perspective addressing the market practices that render it profitable." It also includes research on the overlap between the mechanisms used to commit

ad fraud Ad fraud (also referred to as click fraud or PPC fraud) is concerned with the practice of fraudulently representing online advertisement impressions, clicks, conversion or data events in order to generate revenue. Ad-frauds are particularly popul ...

and the revenue that funds

s. This stream includes disinformation spread and amplified by influencers for profit.

Disinformation in psychology and behavioral research

A sub field of

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

that examines the cognitive processes that influence why people believe and share

. Key factors include

cognitive bias A cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from norm (philosophy), norm or rationality in judgment. Individuals create their own "subjective reality" from their perception of the input. An individual's construction of reality, not the ...

es with which individuals favor information that fits with their pre-existing beliefs.

Research centers

Several universities and

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

s maintain

research centers A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural sc ...

partially or entirely dedicated to disinformation research. In Europe, research centers studying disinformation are networks of experts, for example the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), describes itself as "the EU's largest interdisciplinary network to counter disinformation." Another example is the EU DisinfoLab (EUDL), " an independent non-profit organisation, which gathers knowledge and expertise on disinformation in Europe."

Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...

, a British

, lists disinformation as one of their topics of expertise. Some European universities maintain dedicated research centers; in Finland,

LUT University Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT ('' Finnish'': Lappeenrannan-Lahden teknillinen yliopisto LUT), better known by the abbreviation LUT University ('' Finnish'': LUT-yliopisto) is a Finnish public research university which was esta ...

hosts one. In the United States, some examples include the

at Harvard, which describes its purpose as "Addressing the spread, impacts, and potential solutions to bad and misleading information in society." and the Standford Internet Observatory.

Academic journals

According to a library guide maintained by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, the following

scholarly journals An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the dissemination, scr ...

publish credible disinformation research: * International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence * Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly *

Journal of Communication The ''Journal of Communication'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes articles and book reviews on a broad range of issues in communication theory and research. It was established in 1951 and the current editor-in-chief is ...

Journal of Democracy The ''Journal of Democracy'' is a quarterly academic journal established in 1990 and an official publication of the National Endowment for Democracy's International Forum for Democratic Studies. It covers the study of democracy, democratic regi ...

* Mass Communication & Society * Media, Culture & Society * Misinformation Review *

* Social Media + Society There are several other publications about disinformation, which includes books and other specialized journals. A 2022 bibliographic review identified other journals, based on quantity. * Applied Cognitive Psychology * PLOS One *

Journal of Medical Internet Research The ''Journal of Medical Internet Research'' is a peer-reviewed open-access medical journal established in 1999 covering eHealth and "healthcare in the Internet age". The editors-in-chief are Gunther Eysenbach and Rita Kukafka. The publisher is JMI ...

Other scholarly journals publishing disinformation research include * Journal of Public Policy & Marketing * Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review

Politicisation of disinformation research in the US

Since 2023, Republican members of the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

have attacked researchers who study disinformation as being against

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

and as a euphemism for government

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

. On April 18 2025, citing an Executive Order signed by Trump, the US

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

released a statement cancelling funding for disinformation research. The note explains that disinformation does not fit with the NSF priorities, "including but not limited to those on diversity, equity, and inclusion ( DEI) and misinformation/disinformation."

References

{{Disinformation Deception Disinformation Media manipulation Truth