In the Era of Fake News, Disinformation, & Misinformation, How to Uncover the Truth?

Written by Mahenoor Yusuf , Travis Knight

Fake news. Disinformation. Misinformation. How do you determine what’s real?

In the search for the truth, we constantly find ourselves in the middle of a never-ending battle between fact and fiction with an overabundance of information to process. It’s a grueling process trying to determine the accuracy of this data - and one that is often overlooked.

Defined: Misinformation vs. Disinformation

Two words that often get muddled in the public’s understanding are misinformation and disinformation. Intent is what distinguishes disinformation from misinformation.

Like its cousin, disinformation, misinformation is when falsities are shared with the public. However, misinformation is unintentional, unlike disinformation, which is intentional. So, misinformation can be better defined as bad news, while disinformation fuels fake news. Nevertheless, the contexts of these terms vary wildly, making it difficult to distinguish the nuances between them.

Disinformation Dissembles Decision-Making?

Fake news in its purest form is disinformation; it is information that is intentionally being spread to persuade and manipulate the audience to react and engage in a particular manner. Whether it is politically or economically motivated, disinformation is always formulated to gain profit for the entity which is spreading the lies. In short, fake news is dangerous. It stokes civil unrest, manipulates political outcomes, shields corporate giants from taking accountability, and justifies global tyranny.?

The most prominent problem that disinformation creates is the overbearing level of doubt it raises. In a recent Statista report, 67% of Americans reported that fake news creates confusion, while 38.2% reported that they “accidentally shared fake news” through various social media platforms, texts, or emails.?

These numbers are cause for concern as they shed light on a dire question: How can a democracy function when over a third of the citizens mistrust the information that is pertinent for their decision-making??

Something must be done to address this issue. And that’s exactly what we at Fact Finders Pro aim to tackle.

Introducing Fact Finders Pro

Fact Finders Pro (FFP) is driven by an AI/Deep Learning model that is designed to identify disinformation. Unlike existing AI-powered fact checking applications, FFP will be available as a free plug-in for anyone who wishes to use it.??

By challenging those who produce fake news to manipulate public opinion, Fact Finders Pro aspires to safeguard the truth, protect democracy, and create a world where facts matter and deception fails.

Our team is taking a three-pronged approach to assessing if a source is true or disinformation. It can be a news article, blog, or anything else that can be accessed in an internet browser.

The first step FFP takes is analyzing the content itself to see if it has a history of spreading fake news.??

This is where FFP will analyze sources being used in whatever is being read. The FFP will then detect if these sources are reliable. Is it coming from an outlet that is known to publish fake news? Are the sources credible or peer-reviewed? Furthermore, FFP will also be able to identify mixed content, such as TikTok videos, Instagram photos or Facebook memes--to name a few.?

Secondly, who or what is publishing this article? By understanding who the person behind the curtain is, one can infer what the likely motive is for this person or business.?

Lastly, using a technique called emotional analysis, FFP will detect any emotionally charged words. If something is emotionally charged, then FFP will determine whether it is neutral or biased. Identifying these emotionally fueled terms to users gives them an understanding of intent.

The Tech Behind Fact Finders Pro

Fact Finders Pro will be powered by deep learning models such as the Natural Language Processing (NLP) model. ?

The NLP models are called transformer models, which can identify context, meaning, and intent. Transformer models are what we see in innovative tech such as the Chat GPTs and the Bidirectional Encoder Representation from Transformers (BERT). These algorithms can read large amounts of text and identify its meaning.

By using NLP models, the FFP team can skip the challenge of creating a predictive application with traditional ML models. Unlike the traditional methodologies that can only read word-for-word and in one direction, transformer models take a bidirectional approach, optimizing their ability to really understand what they’re reading. They can even identify when a passage is being paraphrased!?

What is Being Done About Disinformation?

Today, the American public faces a level of disinformation that has never before been experienced. The U.S. government has outdated laws in place for spreading false information with malicious intent, especially in the context of social media.?

Disinformation is not an official offense according to the U.S. court system. While it may be related to crimes, it is not considered a crime in and of itself. By going through the court system and by bringing bills to the U.S. Congress, the FFP team is trying to get disinformation recognized as a crime.

Approximately 40 bills have been introduced to Congress in the last 2-3 years. These bills specifically address the spread of disinformation on popular social media platforms. The Social Media DATA Act (H.R.3541), introduced on May 20, 2021, requires social media platforms to disclose their advertisers to researchers of academic importance.

Currently, social media platforms are one way that disinformation is being spread, and social media platforms are not being held liable for this. They are instead incentivized to stifle the spread of illicit content online. Although this law aims to punish those who spread dangerous content on the internet, this law solely blames the individual while protecting the platforms. Reforming this law to hold both the user and the platform accountable is currently in the works.?

In the meantime, while disinformation legislation solidifies, the best way to fight fake news is to call it out. And that brings us full-circle, back to the FFP application. In November 2023, we? launched Fact Finders Pro, and began crowdfunding for pre-seed funding on GoFundMe to bring the app to the market. Please support, if you're as passionate about fighting disinformation as we are.?

Fact Finders Pro Fundraising Campaign

The FFP application aims to offer user-friendly browser extensions that can be accessed by anyone and that can deliver instant results. So, start fighting disinformation today with the tools of tomorrow. Learn more about Fact Finders Pro here!