False Rumors Research Articles

Blockchain-based rumor detection approach for COVID-19.

The ubiquity of handheld devices and easy access to the Internet help users get easy and quick updates from social media. Generally, people share information with their friends and groups without inspecting the posts’ veracity, which causes false information propagation in the network. Moreover, detecting false news and rumors in such a massive load of unstructured information is a very tedious task. Results, many literature papers explored different machine learning and deep learning approaches to detect the presence of rumors on social media networks. Although detection of misleading news and rumors is not sufficient, therefore, we have proposed a model for the detection and prevention of transmitted rumors in this paper. In this paper, we use blockchain technology to verify the credibility of information and design a framework with four layers: network layer, blockchain layer, machine layer, and device layer, to prevent the propagation of rumors in the network. We also use deep learning techniques to identify the anomalies in the network. The Bi-directional Long Short Term Memory (Bi-LSTM) model is used to prevent the introduction of new rumors by continuously monitoring incoming messages in the network. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed Bi-LSTM model outperforms state-of-the-art machine learning methods and recent baseline work. Performance is compared over different metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, f1-score, and specificity. Experiment results show that our Bi-LSTM model outperforms all the other approaches and achieved 99.63 % accuracy. Additionally, the probability of incorrect detection is significantly low with only 0.13% false positive.

Strengthening Russia’s International Prestige during the Northern War: Russian Diplomatic Institutions and Instruments

During the Northern War (1700-1721), the Russian government had to make great efforts to strengthen the anti-Swedish coalition. Peter the Great developed a broad foreign network of state representatives: employees of the diplomatic corps (envoys, ministers, residents, agents, etc.), trade commissioners, and correspondents. Peter the Great himself, his Cabinet, and the foreign policy department (Posolsky Prikaz, Collegia Inostrannykh Del) controlled these agents of influence. Peter’s diplomats fought for symbolic capital by taking part in official negotiations and unofficial meetings, in diplomatic and court ceremonies, in gift-exchanging, and organizing various festivities. This capital then was converted into the international prestige of the ruler, his title, honor, glory, and position in the hierarchy of European rulers. Considerable attention was paid to promptly inform Western partners about events in Russia’s foreign and domestic policy. Russian information policy emphasized the news that can strengthen Russia’s international prestige: dynastic, diplomatic, and military successes, political reforms, and court celebrations. The article examines the practice of news dissemination through Russian diplomatic missions and foreign diplomatic representatives in Russia. The practice reduced the negative effect of the spread of unofficial information, fake news, and false rumors. The war continued in the pages of print media. To limit the dissemination of information damaging Russia’s prestige, Russian diplomats began to use the same instruments of influence (newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets), which European diplomats used at that time: various methods of pressure and bribery, propaganda, and censorship. The successes of Russian diplomacy have led to the strengthening of Russia’s international prestige and contributed to creating a positive image of the country abroad. The Russian government transferred the gained experience into domestic policy. Peter the Great also demanded fighting against “reprehensible” information about “the person of his majesty, or his troops, as well as his state.”

Location and Language Independent Fake Rumor Detection Through Epidemiological and Structural Graph Analysis of Social Connections.

Detection and identification of misinformation and fake news is a complex problem that intersects several disciplines, ranging from sociology to computer science and mathematics. In this work, we focus on social media analyzing characteristics that are independent of the text language (language-independent) and social context (location-independent) and common to most social media, not only Twitter as mostly analyzed in the literature. Specifically, we analyze temporal and structural characteristics of information flow in the social networks and we evaluate the importance and effect of two different types of features in the detection process of fake rumors. Specifically, we extract epidemiological features exploiting epidemiological models for spreading false rumors; furthermore, we extract graph-based features from the graph structure of the information cascade of the social graph. Using these features, we evaluate them for fake rumor detection with 3 configurations: (i) using only epidemiological features, (ii) using only graph-based features, and (iii) using the combination of epidemiological and graph-based features. Evaluation is performed with a Gradient Boosting classifier on two benchmark fake rumor detection datasets. Our results demonstrate that epidemiological models fit rumor propagation well, while graph-based features lead to more effective classification of rumors; the combination of epidemiological and graph-based features leads to improved performance.

Application Research of Fake News and Rumors Detection in Complex Network Environment

Nowadays, the network environment is very complicated, and so is the information transmission in the network. False news and rumors have become a big problem in the network environment. How to detect the effective information content in the complex network environment? Interest in effective detection techniques has also grown rapidly in recent years. There is an urgent need to develop effective tools to address this challenge by employing advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. In this article, we analyze and study the current state of fake news and rumors in the complex network environment, summarize different methods of detecting fake news and rumors, and point out the important directions for the application of intelligent models in the detection of false information sources. The main purpose is to show possible solutions on the one hand, and on the other hand to determine the main challenges and methodological inadequacy to stimulate future research.

Connecting People to Avail the Resources During Crisis Through Twitter Using Machine Learning

Although social media has become the most widely utilized and active form of communication, research on its usage in crisis management is still in its early stages. As a result, this research examines the rising body of knowledge on social media and crisis management. [1] Between October 2017 and January 2018, a review was conducted, which included locating and retrieving records from an electronic database. The outcomes of this study indicated that the rise of social media has altered the landscape of crisis communication by allowing for greater engagement. However, due to its nature, social media might also be used to spark a crisis. This means that the crisis can be both produced and disseminated through social media. Nonetheless, social media's promise as a crisis-resolution tool is undeniable. It has the capability of proving a claim, dispelling false rumors, or just demonstrating a fact. As a result, practitioners should understand how social media works and how to best use it to interact with their stakeholders. This study also includes other findings, limits, and useful suggestions for scholars and practitioners interested in learning more about the role of social media on crisis communication and management. As most of the crisis problem were reported via twitter. However, most of the problem reported and corresponding responses via twitter were not successfully exchanged between victim’s and resource organization. As a result, most of the tweets were not getting help. Thus, we designed a platform where people can avail the resources of crisis through tweets matching concept using machine learning.

(Mis)Information, Fears and Preventative Health Behaviours Related to COVID-19.

Social and mass media platforms (SMM) are essential tools for keeping people informed about health-promoting practices. However, the potential to spread misinformation or false rumors exists. These might influence preventive health behaviours and incite anxiety and/or fear among the population. A sample of 300 adults participated in a survey to understand information needs, fears and preventive health behaviours related to COVID-19 while analyzing differences in COVID-19 acceptance rates. Descriptive-correlational, between-group comparisons and regression analyses were applied. Most of the sample revealed a willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccines (65.4% vs. 34.5%) and was prone to use and trust different SMM without experiencing significant obstacles in managing COVID-19-related information except for the need to ration it from time to time (χ2(2, N = 298) = 6.654, p = 0.036). Preventive behaviours/measures carried out were similar among the people resistant, hesitant or willing to get vaccinated for COVID-19. However, higher self-efficacy was observed in resistant vaccine individuals (F(2) = 3.163, p = 0.044). Psychological impact (need for psychological support due to COVID-19 situation) in accepting (F(5, 189) = 17.539, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.317) and hesitant individuals (F(5, 77) = 17.080, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.526) was explained by female gender, younger age, threat susceptibility and differential characteristics in terms of psychological symptoms experienced and SMM trust. No explanatory model was obtained for the resistant individuals. SMM could be effective tools to promote COVID-19 health preventive behaviours. However, psychographic characteristics might modulate information-seeking and management as well as self-perceived threat susceptibility and severity. All these factors must be accurately considered when designing different health preventive campaigns for the general public.

Unwillingness or reluctance of Palestinians to get the COVID-19 vaccine: the reasons behind it and how to persuade them

ObjectivesA brief discussion with policy leaders and citizens was conducted to understand the unwillingness of people to get the COVID-19 vaccine and their suggestions to increase the vaccination level. BackgroundDespite the crucial benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine, people are unwilling to get vaccinated. Vaccine hesitancy is a significant problem globally. In Palestine, at the time of this study only about 30% of the population were vaccinated. MethodsWe used a descriptive qualitative design with semistructured interviews. DiscussionThe unwillingness of Palestinian people to get the COVID-19 vaccine was attributed to the spread of false rumours, misinformation, and conspiracy theories they received about the vaccine on the social media and mistrust towards vaccines the government purchased. There is a dire need to develop motivational strategies (i.e., incentives) and reconsider the media discourse and its unification to encourage people to get the vaccines. Social media and professionals should report the benefits/effectiveness of vaccination and avoid exaggerating its' side-effects.

Analysis of COVID-19 Collective Irrationalities Based on Epidemic Psychology.

As the SARS-CoV-2 virus swept the world in late 2019, it has brought widespread fear, some suspicion, and degrees of stigma. In the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemics, a series of collective irrationalities such as panic buying, protest marches against vaccines, and pandemic stigma occurred. This phenomenon is inseparable from the spread of rumors about the epidemic. The advent of social media has radically changed the way we consume information and form opinions and made a flood of digital misinformation becoming ubiquitous. The diffusion of false rumors affects the public’s perception of reality and disrupts the prevention of the epidemic. This paper analyzes the COVID-19 collective irrationalities from epidemic psychology to provide a new reference view for overcoming psychological problems related to COVID-19.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Indonesian medical and non-medical undergraduate students toward COVID-19

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic spread across Indonesia, good knowledge, proper attitude, and appropriate practices among undergraduate students must be achieved before starting a face-to-face lecture. These are also important since most students are active in social media and can spread true or false rumors regarding COVID-19. This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of medical and non-medical undergraduate students toward COVID-19. A 51-item online questionnaire was developed and sent to random undergraduate students from different faculties in Universitas Diponegoro, Indonesia. A total of 482 students completed the survey. The Chi-square test showed significant associations in the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards the COVID-19 between medical and non-medical students, where medical students have better knowledge, attitudes, and practices than non-medical students. This study's findings may become the basis for an awareness campaign planning among students in particular and the public in general, which at this time most student activities are still carried out online and to prepare face-to-face lectures and also to deepen the material regarding COVID-19 among students, especially non-medical students, and furthermore, help to guide the efforts and plans of state health authorities for better containment of COVID-19.

Flat Earths and Fake Footnotes: The Strange Tale of How the Conflict of Science and Christianity Was Written into History

Flat Earths and Fake Footnotes: The Strange Tale of How the Conflict of Science and Christianity Was Written into History

Preventing rumor spread with deep learning

The spreading of false rumors through online media is a serious social problem. The current process of fact-checking mostly relies on the responses of crowds or journalists to perform investigations, which can be performed after a rumor has widely spread. This study proposes a bi-directional encoder representations from transformers (BERT)-based model that only takes a claim sentence of a rumor, which can be used to identify false rumors before it goes viral. By evaluating the proposed model with the rumor dataset that is collected from Snopes and Politifact, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of the model that can accurately identify false rumors with only a given claim text. We also reveal that the performance of the models that are trained from the rumors in specific categories (e.g., business, politics) can be improved by transfer learning. Transfer learning uses the model parameters that are trained from a category as an initial state of the model for another category. Our analysis shows that a pre-trained model from a category that deals with a broad range of topics (e.g., fauxtography) is a useful source that can be transferred to other categories (e.g., entertainment). We believe that the proposed model can help mitigate potential social risks such as social turmoil or monetary chaos that are caused by false rumors, as the rumors can be detected before they go viral.

Lažne vesti kao neizostavni deo medijskog diskursa

False news and rumors have grown frequent in today's world. The dissemination of such information has only been helped and hastened by the media and modern information and communication technology, with far-reaching repercussions. Traditional media is losing its audience's confidence, and more and more people are getting their news from their peers through social media. Not only has social media altered the way news is distributed, but it has also called into question long-held views about what news should look like. One thing is certain: this situation cannot be sustained; a new paradigm must be developed to restore trust in the media and the information they provide.

Exploring the myths surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines in Africa: the study to investigate their impacts on acceptance using online survey and social media.

PurposeThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine is the key to getting out of the pandemic. However, acceptance of the vaccine has been affected by false information and rumors, which have kept people from getting the shot since it was rolled out.Materials and MethodsThis study aimed to investigate the various misconceptions surfaced about the COVID-19 vaccines in Africa. We performed an online survey using an anonymous questionnaire to reach out to African respondents by social media and all possible online platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and so forth. The web-based questionnaires about the myths surrounding the vaccines were extracted from nonscientific information, unproven statements, social media posts, news reports, and people’s concerns about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. Participants indicated their level of agreement with each statement.ResultsA total of 2,500 people responded to the online survey in Africa. The two common myths that respondents agreed with were that “since vaccines for COVID-19 have been developed, we can make vaccines for the common cold, human immunodeficiency viruses, and other diseases” (n=892, 35.7%) and that “researchers rushed the development of the COVID-19 vaccines; therefore, it is not very effective, safe and cannot be trusted” (n=595, 23.8%). The range of respondents who neither agreed nor disagreed with these myths was 12.4%–33.0%. The majority (1,931, 77.2%) indicated disagreement with the statement “after getting the COVID-19 vaccine, one can stop wearing a mask as well as taking safety precautions.”ConclusionMyths surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines have impact on acceptance. Exploring them helps public health authorities in Africa dispel them and provide accurate information to promote vaccination campaigns, education, and acceptance.

Проект Советской Академии в Риме (1924): Вяч. Иванов, А.В. Луначарский, П.С. Коган и другие

In spring of 1924 Viacheslav Ivanov was invited to Moscow to participate in the June celebrations of the 125th anniversary of Aleksandr Pushkin’s birth. The months he spent in the capital reflect an unusually active social schedule. As his address book of the summer of 1924 indicates, he met with a wide range of people: composers and performers (Reinhold Glière, Mikhail Gnesin, Aleksandr Grechaninov, Aleksandr Goldenweiser, Nikolai Miaskovsky, Nikolai Medtner, Leonid Sabaneev), poets and prose writers (Valery Briusov, Iurgis Baltrushaitis, Andrei Globa, Vasily Kazin, Vladimir Lidin, Isaiah Lezhnev, Vladimir Nilender, Ivan Novikov, Sergei Poliakov, Ivan Rukavishnikov, Sergei Shervinsky, Anastasia Tsvetaeva), theater directors (Vsevolod Meyerhold, Aleksandr Tairov), literary scholars (Mikhail Gershenzon, Leonid Grossman, Viktor Zhirmunsky, Boris Eichenbaum), artists (Anatoly Arapov, Nikolai Ulianov, Nikolai Vysheslavtsev, Konstantin Yuon), priests and theologians (Sergei Sidorov, Pavel Florensky), art historians and museum curators (Count Valentin Zubov, Nikolai Mashkovtsev, Boris Ternovets, Abram Efros) and others. Many of these people were in one way or another connected to the activity of the State Academy for the Study of the Arts (GAKhN). It was in fact for GAKhN that Ivanov gave a series of well-received lectures. After receiving his passport to travel to Italy on 4 July 1924, Ivanov decided to postpone his departure for an entire month. It would seem that this delay was connected to the need to draw up a project for the creation in Rome of a Soviet State Institute for History, Archeology and Art History. The project was supported by Petr Kogan, the president of GAKhN, and by Anatoly Lunacharsky, the head of the People’s Commissariat of Enlightenment. The Institute was envisioned as an organization that would serve both researchers and students, following the models of the corresponding academies in Rome — the French Academy, the French School of Archeology, the German Archeological Institute, etc. As Ivanov formulated it in the first plan that he gave to Lunacharsky on 24 August 1924: “The absence of Russia in the arena where cultured peoples are jointly and competitively pursuing scholarly work and cooperating in advanced scholarly colloquy is a kind of voluntary exclusion from contemporary civilization and an indirect affirmation of false rumors about the decline of our culture.”

Evaluating Rumor Debunking Effectiveness During the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis: Utilizing User Stance in Comments on Sina Weibo.

Background: The spread of rumors related to COVID-19 on social media has posed substantial challenges to public health governance, and thus exposing rumors and curbing their spread quickly and effectively has become an urgent task. This study aimed to assist in formulating effective strategies to debunk rumors and curb their spread on social media.Methods: A total of 2,053 original postings and 100,348 comments that replied to the postings of five false rumors related to COVID-19 (dated from January 20, 2020, to June 28, 2020) belonging to three categories, authoritative, social, and political, on Sina Weibo in China were randomly selected. To study the effectiveness of different debunking methods, a new annotation scheme was proposed that divides debunking methods into six categories: denial, further fact-checking, refutation, person response, organization response, and combination methods. Text classifiers using deep learning methods were built to automatically identify four user stances in comments that replied to debunking postings: supporting, denying, querying, and commenting stances. Then, based on stance responses, a debunking effectiveness index (DEI) was developed to measure the effectiveness of different debunking methods.Results: The refutation method with cited evidence has the best debunking effect, whether used alone or in combination with other debunking methods. For the social category of Car rumor and political category of Russia rumor, using the refutation method alone can achieve the optimal debunking effect. For authoritative rumors, a combination method has the optimal debunking effect, but the most effective combination method requires avoiding the use of a combination of a debunking method where the person or organization defamed by the authoritative rumor responds personally and the refutation method.Conclusion: The findings provide relevant insights into ways to debunk rumors effectively, support crisis management of false information, and take necessary actions in response to rumors amid public health emergencies.

Emotions explain differences in the diffusion of true vs. false social media rumors

False rumors (often termed “fake news”) on social media pose a significant threat to modern societies. However, potential reasons for the widespread diffusion of false rumors have been underexplored. In this work, we analyze whether sentiment words, as well as different emotional words, in social media content explain differences in the spread of true vs. false rumors. For this purpose, we collected {varvec{N}} =126{,}301 rumor cascades from Twitter, comprising more than 4.5 million retweets that have been fact-checked for veracity. We then categorized the language in social media content to (1) sentiment (i.e., positive vs. negative) and (2) eight basic emotions (i. e., anger, anticipation, disgust, fear, joy, trust, sadness, and surprise). We find that sentiment and basic emotions explain differences in the structural properties of true vs. false rumor cascades. False rumors (as compared to true rumors) are more likely to go viral if they convey a higher proportion of terms associated with a positive sentiment. Further, false rumors are viral when embedding emotional words classified as trust, anticipation, or anger. All else being equal, false rumors conveying one standard deviation more positive sentiment have a 37.58% longer lifetime and reach 61.44% more users. Our findings offer insights into how true vs. false rumors spread and highlight the importance of managing emotions in social media content.

MOB LYNCHING DUE TO MISTAKEN IDENTITIES

Mob lynching has been prevalent in recent years in many parts of states throughout India where false rumors are spread using social media instigating a mob into killing or severely injuring an individual. They believe that the victim has done something wrong and anger drives them blind to think irrationally and therefore they take upon their own hands to bring justice. It is the act of targeted violence by a mob acting as vigilantes to punish an alleged accused by beating the individual fiercely to the extent of killing or inflicting serious bodily injuries. Often these attacks are against innocent people as the source is mostly based on assumptions of some rumor, misinformation, or suspicion. It is essential to bring this to the utmost attention as a guiltless person doesn’t deserve to be beaten so violently for a crime the person didn’t commit. It is indignified and injustice towards the victim. Even the presence of police cannot do anything in these types of situations against a horde of people. The paper will solely focus on mob lynchings due to mistaken identities of claiming them as child abductors, thieves, etc taking current cases committed in India and also in the USA against black people, and a critical analysis of the provisions to hold these people responsible for committing such vigilant acts. A mob of people excites individuals and thus they go along with the crowd into thinking that whatever they are doing is just and fair. This makes them fearless of not being caught as they believe in escaping with the help of the group because during the commission of crime it becomes difficult to catch hold of every offender by the police. The current laws lack in holding these criminals liable so amendment of present laws or new laws is required for acting as a deterrent effect.

COVID-19 Pandemic Social Media and Stress

Last few years, SARS-coronavirus 2 is sweeping the globe and millions of people are being infected and died. In this situation, citizens and health-care workers would be put in danger if there is a lack of consciousness, knowledge and preparation during this crisis. At the same time, a vast amount of potentially damaging misinformation is spreading at a faster rate than the virus itself. The most of these false rumours are spread via social media. This paper focuses on the COVID-19 linked huge rumour, stigma and conspiracy theories disseminating on the social media during pandemic in Bangladesh perspective. An internet-based interview and primary data was quantitatively analyzed for survey of this paper. The findings demonstrate that social media plays a crucial role in the diffusion of information about the COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh, including bewilderment, anxiety and panic. This study also revealed that Bangladeshi youth society has the higher levels of stress especially among those who followed the news of pandemic in social networks compared to the rest of the population. Another noteworthy finding is that social media was particularly helpful in reducing anxiety and alienation by allowing the general people to stay in touch with friends, family and others via audio-visual group chat. Different aspects of social networking sites use are also described.

Employing artificial intelligence techniques as a mechanism for investigation, scrutiny, and detection of fake news and rumors

Modern communication means have imposed many changes on the media work in the different stages of content production, starting from gathering news, visual and editorial processing, verification and verification of the truthfulness of what was stated in it until its publication, so the changes that were stimulated by modern means and technologies and artificial intelligence tools have affected all stages of news and media production, since the beginning of the emergence of rooms. Smart news that depends on human intelligence and then machine intelligence, which has become forced to keep pace with the development in communication means, which has withdrawn in the various stages of production, and perhaps the most important of which is the process of investigation and scrutiny and the detection of false news and rumors in our current era, which has become the spread of information very quickly through the Internet and websites Social media and various media platforms

« Conspuez l’espion ! C’est l’Allemand qu’il nous faut ! » : Fausses nouvelles et fabrique de l’espion dans l’Ouest de la France durant la Première Guerre mondiale

Durant la guerre, le cumul de tensions, d’angoisse et de traumas collectifs forme un « bouillon de culture » des plus favorables à l’émergence et à la prolifération des fausses nouvelles, des rumeurs et des légendes. La première d'entre elle, l'espionnite, explose dès les premières heures du conflit. L’arrière est alors le théâtre d’une véritable explosion chauvine conduisant nombre de civils à traquer sans relâche cet « ennemi de l’intérieur » diabolisé par la propagande sur la barbarie allemande. En Bretagne, cette psychose a été savamment préparée par des publications d'avant-guerre dénonçant la présence sur les côtes d'une « avant-garde de l’armée allemande ». Dans ce contexte, rumeurs et ragots fantasmatiques pullulent et créent une suspicion envers tout ce qui sort de l'ordinaire. Ces fausses nouvelles, parfois relayées par la presse, se répandent essentiellement par voie orale, par le biais des blessés, des permissionnaires ou encore des réfugiés. Elles transitent généralement par les principaux noeuds de communication, tout spécialement les gares. Ainsi abreuvées de rumeurs et de légendes, les populations de l’arrière s'impliquent activement dans cette traque de l'espion, dégénérant en violences populaires vengeresses et irrationnelles d'autant plus embarrassantes pour les autorités qu'en l'occurrence, ces espions sont partout imaginaires.