Activist and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. framed his own speech as "malinformation" during a hearing on the government's role in helping Big Tech censor content online.
Kennedy described the practice during his testimony before the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Thursday. Congress was hearing testimony on allegations the government works with technology companies to limit speech on social platforms. Kennedy testified alongside Breitbart News editor Emma-Jo Morris, Louisiana Special Assistant Attorney General D. John Sauer, and civil rights activist Maya Riley.
"Malinformation is info that is true but inconvenient to the government, that they don't want people to hear," Kennedy said.
The term "malinformation" originates in the human rights-oriented Council of Europe co-authored report titled "Information Disorder." The report defines "malinformation" as "when genuine information is shared to cause harm, often by moving information designed to stay private into the public sphere."
The term stands in contrast with misinformation and disinformation, which both involve the spreading of false information as truth. Misinformation is generally regarded as falsehoods that are disseminated without a specific intent to mislead, while disinformation is defined as falsehoods spread intentionally, as in the case of a foreign government trying to foment division. In recent years, many conservatives, in particular, have raised the fear that government and tech entities engage in censorship under the pretext of countering misinformation and disinformation.
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Kennedy has been accused of spreading false information about vaccines during the coronavirus pandemic. The vaccine critic's skepticism led to Meta removing him from Instagram for months. He also had several segments cut from interviews with traditional news outlets when he discussed vaccines.
Democrats pushed for Kennedy not to be allowed to testify on Thursday in light of his argument that COVID-19 could have been "ethnically targeted" based on how it disproportionately affected certain communities. Democrats also attempted to move the hearing to an executive session but failed to get the votes.