Objective: Trace the origin of a fake claim or social media post
Concept: Scrape through the social media platforms to trace the origin and reach of a fake claim or social media post
Issues Addressed: Tracing the origin of a fake claim or post will help in curbing the spread of false information. This will also help in understanding the time frame in which the post/claim became viral.
Tech Needs:
Problem Statements | Know-How |
Create a bot/crawler to scrape through various social media channels (like twitter, facebook, instagram etc) | Web crawlers/ spiders, search engine bots, Text Mining |
Reach of the message: tree of origin (direct share and date of post) | Tracing messages |
Details: Spread of false information through social media, whether intentionally or unintentionally, has become a huge problem today. Tracing back a false claim to its origin will help not only in stopping its spread but also in understanding the chain through which this message was shared and the time taken for it to reach its current audience.