The term 'disinformation' was created by Joseph Stalin in 1923.
Posted by The Rob Carson Show, Checked
- Sources
- 2 contradict2 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
The Rob Carson ShowSep 7, 2026
The claim that Stalin created the term 'disinformation' in 1923 is contradicted by Merriam-Webster, which calls such origin claims dubious and unsubstantiated, and by a 2023 Wiley article documenting 'disinformation' in print in 1892. Some sources (Hartford, History of Information) do credit Stalin with coining the Russian 'dezinformatsiya' in 1923, so the claim's Stalin/1923 framing rests on contested secondary accounts.
What was said
… That's what I wanted Donald Trump to do when he became the president, and I'm hoping we haven't gotten to the hell yet, but the hell will come in the second part of his term. For all of this, um, you know, um, the, uh, the term disinformation was not an organic term. It was created by Joseph Stalin in 1923. Disinformatsia was a westernized term, and they tried to create a division of disinformation. Ah, the people who did this to us, censoring the truth, the truth. …
The Rob Carson Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. Merriam-Webster describes claims that Stalin invented the term as dubious and unable to be substantiated, and traces Soviet use to the 1920s and earlier.[2]
Contradicts. A 2023 Wiley article reports the English term 'disinformation' appeared in The Salt Lake Herald in 1892, so the term predates the 1923 Soviet usage and contradicts the claim that Stalin created it.[3]
Supports. The Hartford University PDF states the term was coined by Stalin in 1923 when he opened a 'special disinformation office,' and History of Information attributes the coinage of 'desinformatsiya' to Stalin in 1923.[1][4]
Context. Wikipedia attributes the Stalin-coined claim to defector Ion Mihai Pacepa, while the 1923 'special disinformation office' was proposed by Józef Unszlicht, showing the Stalin attribution is a secondary claim rather than documented fact.[5]
Sources
5 sources: 1 primary, 4 not rated
- 1Coming to Grips with Life in the Disinformation Agehartford.edu · primary source · cited for: supports
- 2Definition of DISINFORMATIONSscrabble.merriam-webster.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 3Hybrid warfare and disinformation: A Ukraine war perspectiveonlinelibrary.wiley.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 4Joseph Stalin coined the termhistoryofinformation.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Soviet disinformation - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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