Enhancing Omani authorities' response to misinformation on social media

المشروع: Research project

تفاصيل المشروع

Description

Misinformation is not a new phenomenon, but it has existed for a long time. However, with the outbreak of Covid-19, a numerous amount of misinformation was disseminated through the web-based platforms. As a result, governments worldwide adopted various initiatives to mitigate the scourge of misinformation, which may be a result of different motivations. Though, the increasing use of social media as a source of a huge information that people may consult for different purposes and take straight decision, such as educational or medical purposes, has elevated the need to explore new possible approaches to enhance Omani authorities' response to misinformation on social media.
Studies revealed that people tend to seek information in social media for many purposes, such as educational, health purposes, or even to obtain daily information needs. However, social media networks are not a credible source of information, as many information shared through these channels cannot be trusted and can be categorized as misinformation or disinformation, which may harm citizens.
The current study is motivated by the increasing number of misinformation shared through social media in Oman, representing a significant threat to people's safety. The study is trying to suggest a framework that can be adopted by Omani authorities to enhance their response to misinformation, design a prototype that could be used to discover misinformation, explore reasons that motivate individuals to share misinformation on social media networks, and identify types of misinformation shared on the Omani social media pages in order to rank correct outcomes from this channels.
The project will adopt a mixed-methods approach in order to collect data. A content analysis will be carried out to analyze the misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic to reveal the types of misinformation related to COVID-19 misinformation shared on social media. Then, a survey will be distributed among different segments of citizens and residents in Oman. Also, interviews will be conducted with sample citizens and residents in Oman as well as selected Omani authorities from different organizations. The practical approach will include developing a prototype using Artificial Intelligence technology that would help discover and flag misinformation in social media.
Introduction
الحالةمنتهي
تاريخ البدء/النهاية الساري١٢/١/٢١١٢/٣١/٢٣

بصمة

استكشف موضوعات البحث التي تناولها هذا المشروع. يتم إنشاء هذه الملصقات بناءً على الجوائز/المنح الأساسية. فهما يشكلان معًا بصمة فريدة.