During community decision-making and civic collaboration, conflicts can escalate when people suspect misinformation. We introduce the concept of sense of misinformation as experiencing someone's language or behavior as misinformation when it is not, that is to say when no falsehood is involved. Misinformation and sense of misinformation feel similar and can have similar social consequences; but sense of misinformation rests upon a mistaken perception of someone else's information as false. Through a case study of a casino proposal in local community, we examine how sense of misinformation developed over time during a contentious civic process through key factors (i.e., miscoordination governance, miscommunication between local government and citizens, and conflict and the breakdown of civic discourse), undermining trust and community democracy. Distinguishing between misinformation and sense of misinformation presents a challenge, but it is important. We contribute a conceptual distinction to the misinformation literature by identifying this distinct phenomenon and discuss ways to help communities recognize and repair such misattributions. Finally, we discuss design approaches for mitigating sense of misinformation.

翻译：在社区决策与公民协作过程中，当人们怀疑存在错误信息时，冲突可能升级。我们引入“错误信息感知”这一概念，用以描述将他人本不涉及虚假内容的语言或行为体验为错误信息的情况。错误信息与错误信息感知在感受上相似，并可能引发类似的社会后果；但错误信息感知建立在对他人信息真实性的错误判断基础上。通过对地方社区赌场提案的案例研究，我们考察了在充满争议的公民参与过程中，错误信息感知如何随时间演变——关键因素（即治理协调失当、地方政府与公民间的沟通不畅、冲突及公民话语的崩溃）削弱了信任与社区民主。区分错误信息与错误信息感知存在挑战，但至关重要。我们通过识别这一独特现象，为错误信息研究提供了概念区分，并探讨了帮助社区识别与修复此类错误归因的途径。最后，我们讨论了缓解错误信息感知的设计方法。