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 158 || AWSAR Awarded Popular Science Stories - 2019
Fake News Identification in Online Social Networks
  Ms. Indu V.*
Email: induv1989@gmail.com
Propagation of fake news or rumors through online social networks is one of the serious issues faced today by the
online social network users. Though, spread of misinformation to intentionally deceive a large community of people was a major peril in historical times too. In the old days, rumors and gossips mainly spread through word-of-mouth but, in the present times, with the advent of the internet the proliferation, around the globe at an alarming rate, is through social networks including Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram. Social networks serve as an effective medium for communication and faster dissemination of information; with large number of online users and strong person-to-person interaction have made social networks an important platform to easily
spread rumors. Every day, a massive amount of unverified information travels across online social networks in the form of texts, images, videos and advertisements, which may also include false information and, by simply clicking a reshare or retweet button, a piece of information may go viral within seconds which can mislead a large population. During emergency situations, natural disasters, and other hazardous events, people widely depend on social networks to disseminate, search, andcurateevent-relatedinformationbutthese circumstances are widely being misused by rumor mongers. The misinformation spread on Ebola outbreak in Africa, fake news connected with Boston Marathon bombing, rumors related to the Indian National Anthem,, the new 2000 rupee notes, or fake news that spread
 * Ms. Indu V., PhD Scholar from LBS Centre for Science and Technology, Nandavanam, Kerala, is pursuing her research on “Countering Semantic Attacks in Social Networks”. Her popular science story entitled “Fake News Identification in Online Social Networks” has been selected for AWSAR Award.



























































































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