The role of AI in battling disinformation and fake news on social media

: how can AI be used to identify fake news on social media?

Abstract

This dissertation examines the role of artificial intelligence in the fight against disinformation and fake news on social media. Over the past 15 years, social media have become an important media that have revolutionized the way information is disseminated. Not only is information disseminated in a matter of seconds, but it is as well published and distributed by anyone with access to social media. And precisely because the boundaries between information producers and information consumers are blurred by social media, there is an increase in fake news on social media. This also gave rise to the central question of this research: “The role of AI in battling disinformation and fake news on social media: How can AI be used to identify fake news on social media from a users perspective?” This work provides insights into the challenge of using AI as well as analyzes the risks that arise both from the social media user and from the use of AI. The findings of this research show that the use of AI is promising and indispensable today, as it is a great help in the fight against fake news. However, they also show that AI still has a considerable need for development so that it may become more reliable.

Date of Award	24 Feb 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Fernando Ilharco (Supervisor)