What is disinformation?
Disinformation is information that is purposely manipulated to be distorted and not represent an accurate situation or reporting of a fact. There are three main categories of dis-information.
Hoaxes
Hoaxes are a form of disinformation that tricks people into believeing something is true when its not. They can be found in many forms online but most commonly include: > Fake news, which are fabricated stories designed to manipulate readers into certain fears or behaviours > Viral messages, often pretending to be from a friend of family member asking for money > Deep fakes, where videos of peoples faces or bodies are manipulated to make it look like they hae said or done something they haven't
Scams
Scams involve tricking people into sharing personal information about themselves which the criminal can leverage for personal gain. Scams include: > False advertising - where people buy products and services that don't exisit or are not as described > Phishing - when people receive emails which they think are from credible organisations asking for something, usually credit card details, which can even extend into blackmail > Catfishing - when someone pretends to be another person to con people into doing thinks > Identity theft - where people are tricked into sharing personal information to help them hack other accounts
Online Challenges
Online challenges are social media activities that normally involves sharing a video of yourself doing a specific task. Some are genuine and fun to raise awareness for good causes, but others may contain dangerous stunts that could cause physical or psychological harm to a person or others. .