Evaluating and Advancing Deviant Cyber Flash Mob (DCFM) Model to Combat COVID-19 Misinfodemic
Abstract
This project aims to study COVID-19 related cross-media misinformation campaigns and evaluate the deviant cyber flash mob model to measure and track power of such campaigns. Social media is characterized as a powerful online interaction and information exchange medium. However, it has given rise to new forms of deviant behaviors such as spreading fake news, misinformation, and disinformation. Such deviant groups conduct actions in a flash mob style, i.e., the phenomenon looks spontaneous but there is quite a bit of coordination and mobilization involved in the background. Deviant groups self-organize, coordinate misinformation campaigns in a highly sophisticated manner leveraging social media networks and disperse into the anonymity of the Internet almost akin to a cyber manifestation of a flash mob. Due to afforded anonymity and perceived less personal risk of connecting and acting online, deviant groups are becoming increasingly common. More recently, there is a surge in misinformation and scam cases pertaining to COVID- 19 (see cosmos.ualr.edu/covid-19). The problem of misinformation is actually worse than the pandemic itself. ThatÕs why it is called infodemic or more specifically, misinfodemic. Like the pandemic, misinformation cases are also rising exponentially. These cases are more difficult to track than the epidemic, as they can originate in the dark corners of the internet. There are similarities between misinformation about COVID-19 and other misinformation cases that have been studied for NATO, US, EU, Singapore, and Canada, etc. Like in other cases, the motivation for spreading COVID-19 misinformation is monetization, sow discord, or to provoke hysteria. However, there is a significant difference between COVID-19 and other misinformation campaigns that we have studied before. Being a global and rapidly evolving crisis, the nature of misinformation is also extremely diverse and super-fast. Misinformation about COVID-19 has both global as well as regional narratives. While fake masks, fake cures, etc. affect a global audience, the regional narratives include promoting medicines for bovine coronavirus as cure for human coronavirus affecting rural/agriculturalist regions. Moreover, the misinformation about COVID-19 ranges from health to policy to religion to geopolitical affairs, i.e., highly topically diverse. Given the volume, velocity, and variety of COVID-19 related misinformation, research is warranted to study such campaigns and their organization. As resources are stretched thin, government and other regulatory bodies cannot afford to investigate all the misinformation campaigns and scams. Using mathematical and computational social science concepts can we measure the power, i.e., is a campaign gaining or losing prominence? Such a power measure could help prioritize investigation of misinformation campaigns and scams. To answer these research questions, we will leverage our previously funded study (W911NF-16-1-0189), where we examined such deviant behaviors from a theoretical perspective. The focus of the proposed study is on analyzing how decentralized online individual actions transform into collective actions. Further, what necessary conditions are required that lead to emergence of DCFM phenomenon and subsequently its sustenance? Answers to these questions enable us to explore predictive capabilities of the theoretical model developed in the previous effort. In addition to experimental evaluation, we will work closely with the Arkansas Attorney GeneralÕs office for evaluating operational relevance, accuracy, and efficiency of the model.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 09, 2020
- Source ID
- W911NF2010262
Entities
People
- Nitin Agarwal
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- United States Army
- University of Arkansas at Little Rock