Disinformation for Dummies

Student: What does "disinformation" mean?

Teacher: Disinformation is when people spread false or misleading information on purpose. It's like when someone tells you a lie and tries to make you believe it is true. Have you ever played a game of telephone, where one person whispers a message to the next person and it gets passed on to the next person? By the time the message gets to the last person, it's completely different from the original message. Disinformation is like that, but on a much bigger scale. It's like a big game of telephone where people are purposely changing the message to trick other people.

(The teacher notices the student is still confused, so they continue their explanation.)

Teacher: Imagine you have a friend who tells you a story about seeing a unicorn in the park. You get really excited and tell all your other friends about it. But then you find out that your first friend was just making up the story to see if you would believe it. That's a bit like disinformation—someone telling a made-up story to trick other people into believing it. It's important to be critical of the information we hear and think carefully before believing everything we're told.

Teacher: There's also another side to disinformation, where people might share information that is true, but they do it in a way that is meant to trick others or cause harm. For example, someone might share a real photo but attach a false caption to it to make people believe something that isn't true. It's like putting a pretty bow on a box with something not so nice inside. People might be tricked into thinking everything is all good, when really, it's not.

Teacher: Does that make sense to you, or do you have any other questions about disinformation?