A Study of the Bulletins of Issued by the Directorate of Communications as a mean to Combat Disinformation

Disinformation may be defined as the dissemination of incorrect or false information with an intent to deceive and mislead people in all capacities including individuals, communities, and society as a whole thereby contaminating information and promoting disorder. This is done well planned and consciously to influence people, spread lies, propagate falsehood and direct people to a specific direction. Today, the word disinformation is used to explain the enormous security threat at the national or global level that emerges from contamination of information. The legitimization and normalization of a distorted truth or a lie is quite normal these days. This calls for actions to be taken by us in our social and individual lives on a personal level and also at a national level by nations. In this study, 19 bulletins published by the Presidency Directorate of Communications in the year 2024 as part of the initiative to fight against disinformation have been analyzed using content analysis and text mining techniques. The findings point to the fact that the bulletins primarily deliver messages with neutral sentiment. The predominantly used types of disinformation in these bulletins were alteration and fabrication, with the maximum prevalence of disinformation content observed in social and political issues. It can be argued that an objective and neutral approach is critical in combating disinformation, and that state institutions should be a key player in this regard. In addition, it is also found that verifications conducted employing public data are substantial tools in upholding public access to accurate information.