Information integrity concerns the reliability of the information people use to participate in democratic life. During elections, threats to this integrity can affect whether voters can access accurate, actionable information.
The information disorder framework
A widely used framework distinguishes three phenomena by intent and truthfulness:
- Misinformation — false, but shared without intent to harm
- Disinformation — false and deliberately deceptive
- Malinformation — true information weaponized to cause harm
Threats around elections
- Coordinated inauthentic behavior and influence operations
- Manipulated and synthetic media
- False claims about voting procedures
Building resilience
Resilience comes from transparency, media literacy, rapid verification, and trustworthy institutions — not from suppressing lawful speech. Investigators focus on behavior and provenance rather than adjudicating every claim.
#information-integrity#disinformation#transparency