Malinformation
Malinformation is information that is true but is shared, often out of context, in order to cause harm to a person, organization or group.
Last updated October 3, 2026
Where the term comes from
Claire Wardle and Hossein Derakhshan introduced the three-part scheme in their 2017 Council of Europe report on information disorder. Misinformation is false and shared without intent to harm. Disinformation is false and shared with intent to harm. Malinformation is genuine information shared to harm, for example leaked private material, harassment that uses real personal details, or an old true story reposted as if it were current.
US government agencies adopted the grouping in the late 2010s and 2020s, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency used "MDM" (mis-, dis- and malinformation) in its election-security materials. That work has since been scaled back. The term is also disputed, because critics argue that labeling true statements as a category of harmful information invites misuse by authorities. Many researchers and platforms avoid it for that reason.
Examples
A hypothetical example: after a layoff, an employee's home address and a real but years-old internal email are posted together, with a caption that links them to the layoffs. Nothing posted is false. The date is hidden and the address is added to direct harassment. Another form is a true quote cut from the surrounding conversation so that it reverses its meaning, though that edge case is often classed as misleading content rather than malinformation.
Why it matters to communications and risk teams
The standard response to falsehood is a correction. That does not work when the facts are accurate, so the response turns on context, timing and safety: supplying the missing context, reporting private-data exposure to platforms, and involving security or legal teams where individuals are targeted; see doxxing and executive protection. Teams should be able to say whether a problem is false, true but misleading, or true and harmful, because each calls for a different response. The fact-checking entry covers verification.
Common misconceptions
Accurate reporting that embarrasses an organization is journalism. The label covers only true information shared to harm.
It is not an established legal category. The same fact can be shared in good faith or to harm, so the label turns on intent, which is hard to prove.
See how these signals show up in your own coverage on the PeakMetrics platform or run the free AI Perceptions check. Back to the glossary.