Introduction to the Special Issue on Combating Digital Misinformation and Disinformation

Abstract

We are delighted to present this special issue of the Journal of Data and Information Quality (ACM JDIQ) on Combating Digital Misinformation and Disinformation. This issue presents an overview of innovative research primarily at the intersection of information credibility, machine learning, and data science, from theory to practice, with a focus on combating misinformation and disinformation. Spread of misinformation and disinformation is one of the most serious challenges facing the news industry, and a threat to democracy worldwide. The problem has reached an unprecedented level via social media, where contents can be created and disseminated to a large audience with little to zero cost and revenues are driven by clicks. Researchers from multiple disciplines have proposed various strategies, built automated and semiautomated systems [1, 3], and recommended policy changes across the media ecosystem [2, 4]. Recently, researchers also explored how artificial intelligence techniques, particularly machine learning and natural language processing, can be leveraged to combat falsehoods online. In this special issue of JDIQ, we provide a representative collection of insightful articles at the intersection of data quality and credibility, from theory to practice, with a focus on improvements in veracity and value. The articles went through a rigorous procedure of review involving at least three expert reviewers for each article. After two rounds of review, we selected five articles that made contributions to both research and practice. Zannettou et al., in “The Web of False Information: Rumors, Fake News, Hoaxes, Clickbait, and Various Other Shenanigans,” provide a typology of the false information content on the Web and surveys the latest research directions. It identifies several lines of works in the false information ecosystem. In particular, it surveys the research works from false information propagation, perception, and identification perspectives. Then, the authors specifically attend the false information spread in the political domain and investigate the velocity and consequence of the spread in communities. Finally, the authors delineate several future research directions that can help understand and mitigate this misinformation problem.