Addressing disinformation - a strategic communications approach and plan

Misinformation is incorrect or false information that is spread unintentionally. It often originates from simple errors, misunderstandings, or a lack of fact-checking. Disinformation, on the other hand, is false information that is deliberately created and spread with the intent to deceive or manipulate a person, group, or audience. It is a strategic act, often for political, financial, or ideological gain.

To address disinformation, a communication strategy must be proactive rather than reactive. The focus is on building public resilience and trust before false narratives take hold. Key strategic components include:

• Terrain Preparation: Analyze the public environment and identify potential narratives and cognitive biases that could be exploited by malicious actors.

• Mapping: Understanding who the malicious actors are and what their motivations are is key to unlocking and developing an effective strategy to counter the disinformation narrative(s).
  

• Inoculation: Proactively expose the audience to a weakened version of a disinformation narrative and explain its flaws. This helps build cognitive immunity to more potent falsehoods.

• Constructive Empathy: Employ an underlying approach that acknowledges and validates public frustrations, building a foundation of trust that makes your factual messages more likely to be received.

• Narrative Control: Define and disseminate your strategic narrative early to occupy the information vacuum and reduce the opportunity for disinformation to take root.