Long battle ahead to curb fake news

Swiss and European researchers are working on algorithms to detect misinformation circulating on social media but caution that training machines to do the work is no easy task. Misinformation hit international headlines in 2016, peaking with accusations that fake news on Facebook helped win Donald Trump the White House. After initially denying that false information had had an influence on voters, the world's most popular social network began testing measures to limit the spread of hoaxes on its site. From giants like Google to solitary tech nerds, others are also springing into action. Yet those who began studying the growth of misinformation well before the unexpected results of the American presidential election brought the problem to the fore caution that experts face an uphill battle against fake news. “It’s a race between machines and people (fabricating information) for fun, political agenda or money,” says Kalina Bontcheva, a professor at the University of ...