Factual refutation is helpless against deliberate disinformation. We need different tactics against this plague of our time.
Of the many scourges the world is currently subject to, one of the worst is the proliferation through modern means of communication, of highly dangerous disinformation.
First, some definitions: information is the communication of what is purported to be factual knowledge; misinformation is the innocent communication of false (counter-factual) knowledge; disinformation is the purposeful communication of knowledge known to be false for the purpose of influencing the beliefs and/or actions of the recipients. In other words, disinformation is a category of misinformation differentiated from innocent misinformation by the motivation of the disseminator.