Disinformation, in the context of espionage, military intelligence, and propaganda, is the spreading of deliberately false information to mislead an enemy as to one's position or course of action. It also includes the distortion of true information in such a way as to render it useless.
Disinformation techniques may also be found in commerce and government, used by one group to try to undermine the position of a competitor.
Unlike propaganda or the Big Lie technique designed to engage an emotional support; disinformation is designed to manipulate the audience at the rational level by either discrediting conflicting information or proposing false conclusions. A third technique of concealing facts, or censorship is also used if the group can affect such control.
The Soviet Union made disinformation a recognized military and political tactic, though disinformation is generally more subtle and designed to remain unconscious to the target audience.
Disinformation is also a company, The Disinformation Company, which publishes a number of books and DVD's, as well as a web site, disinfo.com, about conspiracies, subculture, politics, and other topics the traditional media don't often cover.
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