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Research papers on Misinformation on social media

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  2. Trends in the diffusion of misinformation on social media

    Hunt Allcott, Matthew Aaron Gentzkow, Chuan Yu · 2019 · Research & Politics · 680 citations

    In recent years, there has been widespread concern that misinformation on social media is damaging societies and democratic institutions. In response, social media platforms have announced actions to limit the spread of false content. We measure trends in the diffusion of content from 569 fake news websites and 9540 fake news stories on Facebook and Twitter between January 2015 and July 2018. User interactions with false content rose steadily on both Facebook and Twitter through the end of 2016. Since then, however, interactions with false content have fallen sharply on Facebook while continuing to rise on Twitter, with the ratio of Facebook engagements to Twitter shares decreasing by 60%. I

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  4. The spread of fake news by social bots

    Chengcheng Shao, Giovanni Luca Ciampaglia, Onur Varol, et al. · 2017 · arXiv (Cornell University) · 249 citations

    The massive spread of fake news has been identified as a major global risk and has been alleged to influence elections and threaten democracies. Communication, cognitive, social, and computer scientists are engaged in efforts to study the complex causes for the viral diffusion of digital misinformation and to develop solutions, while search and social media platforms are beginning to deploy countermeasures. However, to date, these efforts have been mainly informed by anecdotal evidence rather than systematic data. Here we analyze 14 million messages spreading 400 thousand claims on Twitter during and following the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign and election. We find evidence that social bot

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  6. FAKE NEWS AND MISINFORMATION

    Matthew N. O. Sadiku, Tochukwu P Eze, Sarhan M. Musa · 2018 · International Journal of Advances in Scientific Research and Engineering · 35 citations

    Fake news is a type of propaganda that consists of deliberate misinformation. This false information is mainly spread through journals, magazines, mainstream media or social media. With the increasing popularity of social media and mobile phone, more and more people consume news from social media instead of traditional news media. Thus social media has proved to be a powerful source for fake news propagation. This paper provides a brief introduction to fake news.

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  7. Concerns over the Spread of Misinformation and Fake News on Social Media—Challenges Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic

    Janni Leung, Mariyana Schoultz, Vivian Chiu, et al. · 2021 · 23 citations

    The unfolding pandemic of COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, has caused challenges across the globe. Shelter-in-place, lockdown, and social distancing policies increased the use of social media for societies to stay connected. This study investigated the psychological issues societies experienced using social media in the community during this critical period. Cross-sectional online surveys were used to collect qualitative data from 1991 respondents living in the UK, USA, and Australia during April–May 2020 when the shelter-in-place or stay-at-home policies were in place. The study found that the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories caused psychosocial challenges and disconnect

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  8. The Geometry of Misinformation: Embedding Twitter Networks of Users Who Spread Fake News in Geometrical Opinion Spaces

    Pedro Ramaciotti Morales, Manon Berriche, Jean-Philippe Cointet · 2023 · Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media · 3 citations

    To understand why internet users spread fake news online, many studies have focused on individual drivers, such as cognitive skills, media literacy, or demographics. Recent findings have also shown the role of complex socio-political dynamics, highlighting that political polarization and ideologies are closely linked to a propensity to participate in the dissemination of fake news. Most of the existing empirical studies have focused on the US example by exploiting the self-reported or solicited positioning of users on a dichotomous scale opposing liberals with conservatives. Yet, left-right polarization alone is insufficient to study socio-political dynamics when considering non binary and m

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  9. Mapping fake news and misinformation in media: A two-decade bibliometric review of emerging trends

    Vijesh Vijayan, Temin Thomas, Princy D. Nellanat · 2025 · Insight - News Media · 2 citations

    The rapid proliferation of fake news and misinformation poses significant challenges to media trust, public decision-making, and societal cohesion in the digital age. This study employs a bibliometric analysis to systematically map the scholarly landscape surrounding fake news and misinformation across media platforms, focusing on social media’s pivotal role in shaping public perception and trust. Utilizing data from the Scopus database, the study analyzes 560 documents published between 2005 and 2025, uncovering trends in annual scientific production, leading sources, author contributions, and geographical distribution. Key bibliometric indicators, including keyword co-occurrence networks a

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  10. Curtailing the spread of fake news: Antecedents of citizens’ intention to correct misinformation on social media

    Beatriz Jordá, Manuel Goyanes, Lorena González‐Manzano · 2025 · Communications · 1 citations

    Abstract There are severe concerns over the widespread presence of fake news on social media and the vulnerability of citizens to its influence. Prior research on fake news has largely focused on the potential threat it poses to democracy, and has payed less attention to an opposing behavior that has emerged in parallel and mitigates its effects: citizens’ corrective actions. This study seeks to examine the sociopolitical antecedents that drive citizens to correct fake news on social media. Drawing on panel survey data from Spain (T 2 = 570), we explore the role that using social media for news, cross-cutting political discussion, and support for fake news censorship have on intention to cor

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  11. AI’s Role in Regulating Fake News and Misinformation on Social Media in West Bengal, 2014–2024

    Mahamudul Hasan Gayen · 2025 · International Journal of Politics and Media · 1 citations

    From 2014 to 2024, West Bengal’s social media ecosystem, encompassing over 50 million users on platforms like WhatsApp, X, and Instagram, has amplified fake news and misinformation, intensifying political polarization and communal tensions. This narrative review examines Artificial Intelligence’s (AI) role in mitigating these issues through natural language processing (NLP), visual content verification, and predictive modeling, focusing on key events like the 2016 Dhulagarh riots, the 2020 public health crisis, and the 2024 Murshidabad violence. AI has enabled rapid detection and containment of false narratives, yet it faces challenges such as Bengali dialect complexities, algorithmic biases

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  12. The Spread of Fake News and Misinformation in the Digital Social Media Era

    Swati Sharma · 2026 · RESEARCH HUB International Multidisciplinary Research Journal

    The rapid expansion of social media platforms such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, YouTube and WhatsApp has fundamentally altered the manner in which information is produced, circulated and consumed across the globe. While these platforms have democratised access to information and given ordinary citizens a voice that traditional gatekeepers once controlled, the same openness has created fertile ground for the rapid and often uncontrolled spread of fake news, rumours and misinformation. This article examines the phenomenon of fake news and misinformation in the digital social media era, tracing its historical roots, the technological and psychological factors that accelerate it

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  16. Os desafios jurídicos da limitação da liberdade de expressão nas redes sociais frente à disseminação de fake news no Brasil: The legal challenges of limiting free speech on social media amidst the spread of fake news in Brazil

    Hellen Assis dos Santos, Jakeline Nogueira Pinto de Araújo · 2025 · RCMOS - Revista Científica Multidisciplinar O Saber

    This work analyzes the legal challenges related to limiting freedom of expression on social media in the face of the dissemination of fake news in Brazil, a relevant and current topic in the context of digital expansion and the debate on internet regulation. The study aims to understand how it is possible to reconcile the protection of the essential core of freedom of expression with the need to combat disinformation in the digital environment, in light of the jurisprudence of the Supreme Federal Court and Bill No. 2,630/2020. To this end, a qualitative, deductive approach was adopted, based on bibliographic and documentary research, drawing on doctrine, scientific articles, the 1988 Federal

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  17. Analysis of news content clarifying misinformation and fake news by media professionals

    Sheel Nidhi Tripathi, Mukul Srivastava · 2021 · The Social Ion

    The rapid global spread of misinformation and false information which we call "infodemic", during Covid-19 is as severe as the Pandemic itself. But, we must not ignore the fact that Mediahas undoubtedly played a major role by not only bringing awareness but also pacifying the masses during the Pandemic on misinformation specially. From Print Media to Digital Media, the entire media fraternity had put its complete vigor and enthusiasm in fighting against this deadly evil whether it is through the presentation of News or clarifying the myth and preventing the misinformation to spread. Keeping this in light, the main aim of this study is to bring forth the role of media professionals in fightin

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  18. The Psychology of Misinformation: How People Process Fake News on Social Media

    Abida Kalsoom · 2025 · ACADEMIA International Journal for Social Sciences

    This study explores the psychological underpinnings of misinformation processing on social media, focusing on the role of cognitive biases—specifically confirmation bias and motivated reasoning—in shaping individuals’ belief in fake news. Using an experimental design, 200 participants were exposed to both real and fabricated news articles, with belief levels assessed before and after exposure. The findings reveal a strong positive correlation between cognitive bias scores and susceptibility to misinformation, confirming that individuals with higher bias levels are more likely to accept and trust false information. Regression analysis demonstrated that confirmation bias significantly heighten

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  19. Fake News Detection: Mining Social Media Data to Detect and Classify Misinformation

    Raji N · 2025 · International Journal of Information Technology Research Studies (IJITRS)

    The proliferation of misinformation on social media platforms poses significant challenges to information integrity and democratic discourse. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of computational approaches for fake news detection, examining current methodologies that leverage natural language processing, machine learning, and network analysis to identify and classify misinformation. Through a systematic review of empirical studies published between 2017 and 2024, we identify key features and techniques used in fake news detection systems, evaluate their effectiveness, and discuss limitations and future research directions. Our findings reveal that ensemble methods combining linguist

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