Blockchain Technology to Resolve the Issue of Fake News Research Paper (Research Paper Sample)

Research Report
Lessons From Brexit: How To Protect European Union Citizens From Fake News
Executive Summary
The purpose of this report was to devise a blockchain based model of the Finnish initiative Faktabaari, which could be employed to eliminate fake news. The meaning of fake news and its impact on politics, economics and scientific knowledge was appraised in several ways. The studies that have recently been generated by academic and hard news research into the effect of fake news on Brexit were critically assessed, followed by an overview of the impact of fake news on European politics and on vaccination against infectious diseases. In the case of the UK Referendum, referred to as Brexit, the main influences of fake news were that it was enhanced by the extensive use of bot networks and that the political group that strategically generated the most activity on a balanced range of political issues tended to have the most impact. The bias in media coverage was also evident, represented particularly by the BBC’s anti-Brexit stance, which prevented the public from receiving balanced opinions and facts. The negative effects of fake news on European political reporting were concerning, with some nations using the media to disseminate fake news that aimed to destroy national democracies and to weaken links between them. This research also found that the extraordinary effect of false information on health was a consequence of individuals failing to validate the information they read on the internet by accessing other sources. By appraising the potential blockchain solutions to eliminate fake news, and investigating the Faktabaari initiative that seeks to educate the public on how to check facts for their authenticity, a new model for eliminating fake news is suggested by combining the two concepts. The proposed model merges the Faktabaari principles with blockchain and machine learning by integrating the Trendolizer idea into a blockchain environment. The contributors to news or education/training items are rewarded for their contributions to authentic high quality input by being paid sums in cryptocurrency and real news is archived for the benefit of researchers and journalists as well as for continuous machine learning purposes.
Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Executive Summary PAGEREF _Toc19448179 \h ii1. Introduction PAGEREF _Toc19448180 \h 11.1 Fake News and Its Development PAGEREF _Toc19448181 \h 11.2 Fake News Associated With Brexit PAGEREF _Toc19448182 \h 32. The Problems Caused by Fake News PAGEREF _Toc19448183 \h 132. 1 Political Fallout From Fake News PAGEREF _Toc19448184 \h 133. Blockchain Solutions to Fake News Dissemination PAGEREF _Toc19448185 \h 223.1 Blockchain Overview PAGEREF _Toc19448186 \h 223.2 Potential Blockchain Solutions to Fake News PAGEREF _Toc19448187 \h 254. Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc19448188 \h 33REFERENCES PAGEREF _Toc19448189 \h 36
1. Introduction
1.1 Fake News and Its Development
Fake news is a contemporary reference to the communication of false information, also known as misinformation. This is not a new phenomenon, but one that burgeoned noticeably in 2016 during the election campaign for the President of the United States.1 2 As voting was about to take place in August 2016, the twenty most popular fake election reports generated 8,711,000 shares, almost 1.5 million more shares than the equivalent reports on nineteen major newspaper websites. In contrast, sharing of authentic news stories in February 2016 amounted to 12 million, and fake reports to 3 million.3 One study identified trends in shared content originating from 570 fake websites and 10,240 fake news reports on Facebook and Twitter from January 2015 to July 2018, and confirmed the colossal rise in interactions on social media towards the end of 2016.4 The inference is that fake news is generated with the same intentions that characterised misinformation in the past, specifically, manipulation, false statements, rumours, and conspiracy theories. However, the advances in technology have facilitated rapid, effective modifcation of authentic news reporting,1 fictitious posts that resemble authentic news stories can be diffused to millions of people across social media platforms in seconds.5
Fake News is not limited to politics or news stories, academic and scientific articles are amongst the major target areas for misinformation, for instance a study endorsed by the Royal Society of Chemistry,6 highlighted the dangers of fake science. Citing from the Han Dynasty Book of Han written in 111 A.D, the authors recommend that individuals should examine the facts in order to verify their authenticity,7 particularly as ignorance of the true facts causes fatalities. A recent example is the proliferation of child illnesses and deaths owing to global dissemination of misinformation that Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism and should be avoided. A European Union (EU) generated study6 suggested that scientific literacy needed to be integrated into learning at all educational levels, to enable contextual understanding of science and critical thinking regarding vital scientific issues. This action was essential as a consequence of the speed of disinformation and its highly negative potential impact, and partly dispersed by anti-scientific groups. The issue was exacerbated by falsified results from scientific research,8 and the study also identified a huge rise in scientific articles withdrawn from even the most prestigious journals prior to publication, owing to fraudulent content. Further examples of misinformation that were damaging the trustworthiness of scientific research, were articles published in open access journals, which are a relatively new phenomena, fake scientific conferences and texts published for profit motives, rather than for their contribution to enhancing knowledge.