US researchers create a tool against false news

The web works like a search engine to detect untruthful information

  Researchers at the University of Indiana have developed a new tool that shows how fake news and unverified stories are disseminated without control through the media and social networks.

Hoaxy, that's the name of the search engine, is the latest effort to combat this evil of recent months, especially during the presidential campaign in the United States.

"It's a very serious problem," says Filippo Menczer, director of the University Center for Complex Networks and Research Systems, which Hoaxy launched.

  Misinformation and propaganda "are nothing new", but Menczer. "Social media makes it more likely that I am more exposed to the false information that I am likely to believe," he adds.

Hoaxy does not determine if a story is real, but shows how it is spread. The free website, hoaxy.iuni.iu.edu , can be used by journalists, researchers and the public. "If a user suspects that a story is false, they can look it up on the website to see how it was spread and to what extent it went viral," says the principal investigator.

It examines websites, compiled by news organizations and data verification sites, that are known to publish satire, cheats or conspiracy theories. Keep track of the links to the stories on Twitter and Facebook so that users can see how often the stories have been shared.