Research on rumor propagation and rumor refutation strategies in complex network environment

Abstract

With the popularity of social media, the speed and scale of information dissemination has increased exponentially, among which rumors have become a prominent issue that arouses public concern. Due to the lack of comprehensive consideration of population flow, propagation mechanisms, and effective rumor refutation strategies, as well as related dynamical analysis in traditional models, we propose an extended ISR rumor spreading model based on the traditional SIR (Susceptible, Infected, Recovered) model. The average field equation is established by introducing the flow of population, trust and suspicion mechanism and two rumor-refuting strategies, and the basic reproduction number of homogeneous and heterogeneous networks and the stability of the rumor-free equilibrium point are analyzed. Finally, our experimental simulation shows that the trust mechanism increases the speed and scale of the spread of rumors in the network, while the suspicion mechanism inhibits the spread of rumors and gradually reduces the spread scale. In addition, the dual rumor refutation strategy has a good inhibition effect on the spread of rumors, especially the direct rumor refutation by the disseminator, and has been verified in different models. These findings enhance our understanding of rumor dynamics and suggest strategies for mitigating misinformation in social networks.