Archives: Research

In 2018, WhatsApp began several measures as a response to alleged reports of the platform being used to spread misinformation. This report highlights the notable aspects of the spread of misinformation in India, its key themes and ways of circulation. It concludes by listing some measures to counter misinformation. 

The phenomenon of fake news presents an opening for traditional news media to regain momentum. Fake news presents a chance for mainstream news media to rebuild and re-establish its credentials against social media giants like Facebook which act as a source for disseminating volumes of fake and real news. The paper also suggests several recommendations for traditional media companies and organisations to safeguard against becoming victims of fake news while challenging internet giants like Facebook and Google. 

The rise of fake news indicates an erosion of long-standing institutional safeguards against misinformation in the digital age. This is a global concern which seeks its solution in the establishment of a new system of safeguards. This paper discusses the extant social and computer science research regarding belief in fake news and how it's disseminated. The authors focus on the unanswered scientific questions raised in the most recent proliferation of the phenomenon. 

This paper seeks to reintroduce contemporary critiques of social media research as they gather prominence following the fake news debacle. The main effort behind this paper is to have a larger academic discussion about issues related to social media research, both in terms of using these platforms to collect data and the type of data that is collected. The author argues for alternatives in order to battle an oncoming crisis in the field of social media research. 

This 2018 Oxford University study analyses the critical threat posed by the manipulation of public opinion to public life. The study finds a range of government agencies and political parties worldwide exploiting social media platforms to spread fake news and disinformation. The findings are based on a systematic analysis of local news articles reporting on cyber-troop activity in each country, an in-depth secondary literature review, and consultations with country-specific experts. 

The study seeks to understand the dissemination of fake news among Twitter users during the two weeks leading up to the 2016 US Presidential elections. An in depth study was conducted by identifying tweets that contained known fake news domains. With this data the study explored  dimensions such as temporal tweet activity, likelihood of account automation, tweet volume, temporal persistence of widely shared urls, and candidate affinity. 

This report provides an overview of the existing literature on the relationship between social media, political polarisation, and political disinformation which includes fake news, rumours, misinformation, politically biased information and "hyper partisan" news. The report concludes by identifies key gaps in our understanding of this phenomenon and the data that is needed to address them. 

The rise of new media has radically altered the way political institutions function, the way political leaders communicate, the way elections are contested , and how citizens engage. The dynamic role of new media continues to grow and develop in novel, and sometimes unanticipated ways, that have serious consequences for democratic governments and politics. This essay seeks to examine the impact of new media on political life in greater detail. 

Social media has become the dominant source of information for society and is both a boon and a curse in its ability to strengthen free speech in general.  This paper focuses on how social media negatively influences public debate with its influence on democracy in Western countries. It also makes recommendations on how to effectively address these risks that arise due to social media.

This paper describes a proposed intervention, the Pro-truth Pledge (PTP) which combines behavioural science research with crowd-sourcing to help address the problem of fake news. The PTP is a pledge towards behaviours which are more oriented towards truthfulness for both private citizens and public figures. The study finds the use of PTP an effective measure in reducing the spread of misinformation online.