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Select Committee on fake news: Cited reports

False news spreads faster, wider online than the truth

Excerpts from an MIT research brief on a study, The Spread Of True And False News Online, by Soroush Vosoughi, Deb Roy and Sinan Aral, on March 9

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The study also found that false political news travelled deeper and more broadly, reached more people, and was more viral than any other category of false information.

The study also found that false political news travelled deeper and more broadly, reached more people, and was more viral than any other category of false information.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Ng Jun Sen

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Barely a day goes by without a new development about the veracity of social media, foreign meddling in US elections, or questionable science.
Adding to the confusion is speculation about what is behind such developments: Is the motivation deliberate and political, or is it a case of uninformed misinformation? And who is spreading the word online - rogue artificial intelligence bots or agitated humans?
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