Glossary of terms

UNHCR seeks to address the harmful impact of risks on digital platforms such as misinformation, disinformation and hate speech through a framework of promoting information integrity.

UNHCR seeks to promote more speech, not less, as the key means to creating a open, inclusive, safe and secure information environment. These information risks are related but distinct phenomena, with certain areas of overlap and difference in how they can be identified, mitigated and addressed. 

Noting that there are no universally accepted definitions of misinformation, disinformation, misinformation and hate speech, UNHCR proposes the following definitions for staff and partners. These should be considered working definitions and not legal definitions formally adopted by UNHCR. 

Information Integrity

Information Integrity refers to an information ecosystem in which freedom of expression is fully enjoyed and information that is accurate, reliable, free from discrimination and hate is available to all in an open, inclusive, safe and secure information environment.  

Risks to Information Integrity

Risks to information integrity encompass a range of current, emergent and future digital challenges to information integrity including but not limited to online misinformation, disinformation and hate speech. This toolkit uses "information risks" on occasion as an umbrella term for risks to information integrity, though it should be well noted that information itself should not be considered a risk.

Misinformation 

Misinformation refers to the unintentional spread of inaccurate information shared in good faith by those unaware that they are passing on falsehoods. Misinformation can be rooted in disinformation as deliberate lies and misleading narratives are politicised over time, fed into the public discourse and passed on unwittingly.

Disinformation

Disinformation refers to information that is inaccurate, intended to deceive and shared in order to do serious harm. No one definition for disinformation may be sufficient on its own, given the multiple and different contexts in which concerns over disinformation may arise, including with regard to issues as diverse as electoral process, public health, armed conflicts, or climate change.

Malinformation

Malinformation is generally true information that is being shared at a time or in a way that intends to inflict harm on a person, social group, organization or country.

Hate Speech

Hate Speech refers to “any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity factor”.

Frauds and Scams

Fraudulent schemes may use email, mobile phone applications, social media or websites, which appear as various proposals from people purporting to be officials of UNHCR. The correspondence and other documents, email addresses and websites may be crafted to look like they originate with UNHCR. For example, they may contain official-looking UNHCR emblem, name, or some variation thereof. Email or website addresses may include the words “United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees” or some similar fictitious name purporting to provide support to refugees and others forced to flee. (See Frauds and Scams for more information).

*See Glossary of Additional Terminology for further relevant terms.