Systematic Review of Fake News, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Examining Authors, Content, and Social Impact Through Machine Learning

In recent years, the world has witnessed a global outbreak of fake news, propaganda and disinformation (FNPD) flows on online social networks (OSN). In the context of information warfare and the capabilities of generative AI, FNPDs have proliferated. They have become a powerful and quite effective t...

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Main Authors: Darius Plikynas, Ieva Rizgeliene, Grazina Korvel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10843666/
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author Darius Plikynas
Ieva Rizgeliene
Grazina Korvel
author_facet Darius Plikynas
Ieva Rizgeliene
Grazina Korvel
author_sort Darius Plikynas
collection DOAJ
description In recent years, the world has witnessed a global outbreak of fake news, propaganda and disinformation (FNPD) flows on online social networks (OSN). In the context of information warfare and the capabilities of generative AI, FNPDs have proliferated. They have become a powerful and quite effective tool for influencing people’s social identities, attitudes, opinions and even behavior. Ad hoc malicious social media accounts and organized networks of trolls and bots target countries, societies, social groups, political campaigns and individuals. As a result, conspiracy theories, echo chambers, filter bubbles and other processes of fragmentation and marginalization are polarizing, radicalizing, and disintegrating society in terms of coherent politics, governance, and social networks of trust and cooperation. This systematic review aims to explore advances in using machine and deep learning to detect FNPD in OSNs effectively. We present the results of a combined PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) review in three analysis domains: 1) propagators (authors, trolls, and bots), 2) textual content, 3) social impact. This systemic research framework integrates meta-analyses of three research domains, providing an overview of the wider research field and revealing important relationships between these research domains. It not only addresses the most promising ML/DL research methodologies and hybrid approaches in each domain, but also provides perspectives and insights on future research directions.
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spelling doaj-art-f01ef46d090747ad897693763f181bef2025-01-31T00:01:06ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-0113175831762910.1109/ACCESS.2025.353068810843666Systematic Review of Fake News, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Examining Authors, Content, and Social Impact Through Machine LearningDarius Plikynas0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5906-2324Ieva Rizgeliene1https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3211-5126Grazina Korvel2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1931-6852Institute of Data Science and Digital Technologies, Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, Vilnius University, Vilnius, LithuaniaInstitute of Data Science and Digital Technologies, Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, Vilnius University, Vilnius, LithuaniaInstitute of Data Science and Digital Technologies, Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, Vilnius University, Vilnius, LithuaniaIn recent years, the world has witnessed a global outbreak of fake news, propaganda and disinformation (FNPD) flows on online social networks (OSN). In the context of information warfare and the capabilities of generative AI, FNPDs have proliferated. They have become a powerful and quite effective tool for influencing people’s social identities, attitudes, opinions and even behavior. Ad hoc malicious social media accounts and organized networks of trolls and bots target countries, societies, social groups, political campaigns and individuals. As a result, conspiracy theories, echo chambers, filter bubbles and other processes of fragmentation and marginalization are polarizing, radicalizing, and disintegrating society in terms of coherent politics, governance, and social networks of trust and cooperation. This systematic review aims to explore advances in using machine and deep learning to detect FNPD in OSNs effectively. We present the results of a combined PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) review in three analysis domains: 1) propagators (authors, trolls, and bots), 2) textual content, 3) social impact. This systemic research framework integrates meta-analyses of three research domains, providing an overview of the wider research field and revealing important relationships between these research domains. It not only addresses the most promising ML/DL research methodologies and hybrid approaches in each domain, but also provides perspectives and insights on future research directions.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10843666/Machine learningdeep learningpropaganda and disinformationfake newsPRISMA systematic reviewauthors’ analysis
spellingShingle Darius Plikynas
Ieva Rizgeliene
Grazina Korvel
Systematic Review of Fake News, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Examining Authors, Content, and Social Impact Through Machine Learning
IEEE Access
Machine learning
deep learning
propaganda and disinformation
fake news
PRISMA systematic review
authors’ analysis
title Systematic Review of Fake News, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Examining Authors, Content, and Social Impact Through Machine Learning
title_full Systematic Review of Fake News, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Examining Authors, Content, and Social Impact Through Machine Learning
title_fullStr Systematic Review of Fake News, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Examining Authors, Content, and Social Impact Through Machine Learning
title_full_unstemmed Systematic Review of Fake News, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Examining Authors, Content, and Social Impact Through Machine Learning
title_short Systematic Review of Fake News, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Examining Authors, Content, and Social Impact Through Machine Learning
title_sort systematic review of fake news propaganda and disinformation examining authors content and social impact through machine learning
topic Machine learning
deep learning
propaganda and disinformation
fake news
PRISMA systematic review
authors’ analysis
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10843666/
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