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Could MNHQ please clarify its policy with regard to tackling misinformation and disinformation on the site?

5 replies

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 11/10/2026 12:57

There is a lot of misinformation and disinformation here on Mumsnet. I expect most site users will be aware of this. It is not unique to Mumsnet by any means - disinformation is everywhere on the Internet these days.

The Mumsnet reporting function has an option which explicitly allows users to report posts as "misinformation". However, it is not clear to me as to what MNHQ's policy is for dealing with such reports, and I would be grateful if this could be clarified.

On previous occasions, when I have reported unequivocally false statements on Mumsnet, I have been told that MNHQ doesn't have the ability to check whether claims are factual or not, and so I should challenge the false statements on the relevant thread instead. I know that other posters have received similar responses.

I can sort of accept the explanation that the moderators may not have either the time or the skills to fact check everything, though I do personally think there is still an argument that MNHQ should take more responsibility for preventing the spread of disinformation via their site. However, I have found it harder to understand why they still provide an option for reporting misinformation if they do not actually feel that they are able to tackle it in practice. Is it merely to give the impression that they might do something about it?

Yesterday, I reported a post which contained a false statement that was presented as fact. It was not a statement that could be open to interpretation or a matter of subjective judgement. It was simply false, and demonstrably so.

I did not receive any response to the report for many hours. Then eventually I received a response which stated that the post did not break Talk Guidelines and that it would therefore be left to stand so that it could be challenged on the thread.

I responded to the email to ask for clarification as to whether misinformation or disinformation is now permitted under Talk Guidelines, and to ask what the "report misinformation" function was for if this is no longer breaking Talk Guidelines. I have not received any response to that query. However, a few minutes after sending it, I received a separate email (from the same moderator), thanking me for reporting the post in question and confirming that the post had been deleted. The email made no reference to the earlier emails, didn't explain the earlier statement that the post hadn't broken any Talk Guidelines, didn't address the questions that I had asked. I checked the thread, and the false post had indeed been deleted. But I don't think it would have been if I had not pushed back.

It is difficult to have much faith in Mumsnet moderation when such inconsistencies arise. The most charitable explanation that I can think of is that the moderator didn't really bother checking the post properly before initially deciding to allow it to stand.

I do appreciate that the moderators are human, and that they will make mistakes sometimes, but this seems to happen far more often than it should. Could MNHQ please shed some light on the specific procedures that are followed when reports of misinformation are received, and what the actual policy is with regard to dealing with misinformation and disinformation when it is identified.

Thank you

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MNHQ

BeckyAMumsnet · 12/10/2026 11:12

Thanks for this, @MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack . You’re asking a fair question. If we give people an option to report misinformation, we should explain what we mean by it and what happens when it’s reported to us.

First, on the terms themselves as there's some back and forth here about definitions. By our assumption, misinformation means information that is false or misleading. Someone might share it because they’ve misunderstood something, misremembered it or trusted a source that turns out to be wrong. Disinformation means false or misleading information shared deliberately to deceive people. The difference really is intention, which isn’t always something we can establish from a post.

Neither term means simply “a view I disagree with”. People can reach different conclusions from the same evidence, disagree or question accepted thinking. There has to be room for that on Mumsnet. Equally, a factual claim doesn’t become a matter of opinion just because someone prefaces it with “I think”.

Our starting point, as it has always been, is to let the conversation flow and keep intervention to a minimum. We don’t have a blanket policy of deleting everything that is factually wrong and it's hugely important to note that we are not fact checkers. In many cases, a correction or a link to better evidence is a useful part of the discussion and hence why we often push back on deleting things that are evidently incorrect. People do get things wrong, and we don’t want every mistake to become a moderation matter.

All that being said, it really doesn’t give people a free pass to deliberately mislead others. Our Talk guidelines cover misleading and deliberately inflammatory behaviour, as well as trolling, hate speech and other harmful content. We can remove posts and ban posters where those rules are broken.

So the misinformation report option is there to bring something to our attention for consideration under those guidelines. It isn’t a promise that we’ll investigate every disputed fact and delete anything we find to be incorrect and we appreciate that the label alone doesn’t make that distinction particularly clear.

Where we suggest challenging something, that should be understood as an option, rather than us handing responsibility back to the person who reported it. It also doesn’t mean we regard a false claim and a well-supported correction as equally valid, or that we’ve checked and endorsed a post because we’ve left it up.

It's also perfectly reasonable to ask someone what supports a factual claim and to point out when the evidence doesn’t support it. The usual rules about personal attacks and troll hunting still apply. You can challenge what someone has said without making accusations about who they are or why they’re here. If you suspect deliberate deception or a pattern of misleading posts, please include that info in your report so we can look at it.

As we’ve said previously, we can’t publish all the checks we use to spot trolls and people trying to manipulate discussions, because that would help them work around those checks, but that shouldn’t ever prevent us from explaining the principles behind our decisions.

On the particular exchange you describe, @MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack we’d need to look at the report and replies before explaining why the decision changed and I'm not going to hazard a guess. Sometimes a second look leads us to a different decision, and sometimes we get the first decision wrong. If that happens, we should explain it rather than send two apparently contradictory replies and leave you to work it out. Could you please send some more info to [email protected] and we'll certainly review what happened.

We know you’re not asking us to guarantee that nothing inaccurate ever appears on Mumsnet. You’re asking for a clearer account of where we draw the line, and for decisions and replies that make sense. That’s a reasonable thing to expect and thanks again for taking the time to set it out.

MNHQ

BeckyAMumsnet · 12/10/2026 12:24

Thanks for your post, @Limeandfigs, there are a few separate points here.

The suggestion that users may challenge a claim should be understood as an option available within a discussion, not as us handing responsibility back to the person who reported it. Mumsnet is a discussion board and so respectful disagreement, asking someone to clarify what they mean, and offering a well-supported correction are all normal parts of the experience.

That does not mean every claim must be challenged on-thread, nor that a post remaining up means we have endorsed it. Reporting is still appropriate where a claim is presented as fact and appears materially false. The misinformation reporting category is intended for those circumstances and not ordinary differences of opinion.

In the particular case being referred to, the issue was not that someone was pushed too hard to provide evidence. They were repeatedly asked to clarify what they meant, and when they did not do so quickly enough, other posters made personal attacks and rounded on them. This was reported by numerous other users who felt it an uncomfortable thing to watch. That is not acceptable. Challenge should address the point being made and it should not become a way of targeting someone or getting personal.

We should not give the impression that users need to build a full case before reporting, but obviously the more info and context provided the better. We'll look at every report even if no info is given. Equally, moderators should not make decisions based on who appears more sympathetic or whose position they personally prefer. If you think that's the case, please reply to the report to say so. We tread a difficult balance here and will not get every judgement call right by any means.

MNHQ

BeckyAMumsnet · 12/10/2026 17:20

Thanks for your feedback @BIossomtoes @Twiglets1 @Curbedenthusiasm - we'll have a chat about this and get back to you.

MNHQ

BeckyAMumsnet · 14/10/2026 12:46

TemperanceWest · 14/10/2026 12:33

I would really like to hear MNHQ's thoughts on this @BeckyAMumsnet

Edited
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Thanks for your question. We do understand the concern especially when there’s so much misinformation around on the wider internet.

There’s no doubt that disinformation campaigns exist, but we don’t have evidence that any particular state backed campaign is operating on Mumsnet, and we don’t want to jump to that conclusion about individual posters. It’s quite a serious allegation to make, and people can repeat the same talking points for all sorts of reasons.

We do have systems in place to help us spot and review posts that may need a closer look, alongside reports from users of course. We can’t go into the detail of particular filters, partly because that would make them easier to get around.

It’s also worth saying that Mumsnet isn’t necessarily the obvious first choice for this sort of activity. Many threads tend to be long and very context heavy, and posts don’t spread at the speed they can on the bigger social platforms. That doesn’t make us immune, of course, and we always keep our approach under review, but it does mean the risk may look different here than on, say, Facebook or X.

As ever, the most useful thing is to report posts or accounts that worry you. That lets the team look at the actual content and the wider context, rather than trying to make assumptions about who may be behind it.

MNHQ

BeckyAMumsnet · 14/10/2026 13:19

BIossomtoes · 14/10/2026 12:51

Thanks @BeckyAMumsnet. That doesn’t, however, explain the initial decision to leave those posts and the subsequent change of mind.

At a guess, @blossomtoes, this was a cock up rather than a conspiracy - but if you can give is more info, we can look into it in detail.

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