A Social Media Lie Detector Hopes To Quash Viral Rumours

University researchers from five European universities, led by Sheffield in northern England, are cooperating on a system that could automatically analyse in real-time whether
a piece of information is true or false for example social media rumours that could have substantial real-world effects.

The three-year, European Union-funded project, called PHEME a term coined to suggest “memes which are enhanced with truthfulness information,” and a reference to the Greek goddess of fame whose wrath consisted of scandalous rumours.

The idea behind the PHEME system  is an attempt to filter out the nuggets of factual information from the avalanche of ill-informed comment on Twitter and Facebook and to stop false information spreading before things get out of hand.

The researchers said Tuesday they hope the system will allow governments, emergency services, media and the private sector to respond more effectively to claims emerging and spreading on social media before they get out of hand.

 Pheme: The Greek goddess of fame 

On the EU project page, the researchers explain that their system will divide suspicious social media comments into four types of pheme: speculation, controversy, misinformation, and disinformation. The difference between those last two is that misinformation is spread unwittingly—people don’t realise it’s not true—whereas disinformation is disseminated knowingly, with malicious intent.

But automatically categorising comments into those groups is difficult without an awareness of the context surrounding the words; if something’s presented as fact, it reads like fact. Pheme will look at the source of the rumour, on the basis that news outlets and experts are more reliable  (though they’re not immune to social media fails). Automated bots and newly created Twitter accounts, on the other hand, are less trustworthy.