DoFacts!

Crowdsourced factchecking app.

Comment 1

The problem our project solves

A large part of the information about the Coronavirus found on the Internet is not valid or incomplete. Some false information goes to the Internet intentionally, and some accidentally with no prior source verification. This information provides misinformation and social tension, which in turn, negatively into public behavior.

According to the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Trust and the Coronavirus. 74% of respondents are worried that there is a lot of false information spread about the virus and pandemic. For 45%, it's been challenging to find reliable and trustworthy information. 85% is interested to hear more details from scientists than from politicians. Media and governments had trust challenges going into the crisis. 63% of respondents said that they would believe information from "my employer" channel after one or two exposures. Seven in 10 respondents are following coronavirus news in media at least once a day, with 33% saying they are checking several times a day link

DoFacts solves this problem by providing the community with verified information, eliminating untrustworthy resources, reducing anxiety, and strengthening trust between government and citizens.

The solution we bring to the table (including technical details, architecture, tools used)

We created a system that allows verifying Coronavirus-related (but not limited to) information based on a crowdsourcing approach, with future extension to NLP. Our solution gives a clear unique value proposition for every consumer, quick time to market with a realistic implementation plan, and easy and versatile integrations with other platforms through browser extensions. Through the plugin users add to the browser, now everyone can send content for verification and contribute to the fight with fake news.

The selected piece of content is added to the verification pipeline. From there, the system’s volunteer team supported by experts or NLP-system check the credibility of the selected content and source. If the user is interested in direct response, they can get notified by the selected channel.

All Internet users may view verified content on a dedicated website, which might be implemented for every institution, corporate, or government. With this solution, users get real information from reliable sources.

The tool is adaptable and can be used worldwide in any subsequent crisis, and also after that.

The solution is developed under an open-source licence.

The biggest challenge on the back-end was to prepare the app for the significant traffic. Therefore we had to split the app for several smaller services, which are responsible for receiving, processing, and displaying data independently. On the front-end side, we prepared two apps: the panel and the portal. Both have been written in the React.js. The panel site has to manage with a massive amount of data, so we decided to connect Redux. To speed the development process, we used the material-UI components. The portal is a smaller part of the app, but it is visible for the end-users; that is why we decided to use also next.js framework. It allows for smooth implementation of the server-side rendering, which is vital for the performance and accessibility of the portal site.

What we have done during the weekend

During the weekend, we have upgraded the solution created in a national phase in Poland, so it is scalable. By adding a multi-language module, the app might be used by any European or associated country. We did the refactor of the code, which was necessary to make it open-sourced and possible to be developed by a community.

We have written the documentation to help other developers of European governments to easily adapt or integrate the code with their local press agencies, gov portals, or other sources of information for their citizens.

The solution’s impact on the crisis

Overcoming the fear through fact-based communication, reducing panic, restoring the courage, and feeling of security - that’s the positive impact of mitigation fake or unfair information.

As of now, the solution contributes to 38 million people in Poland, thanks to the collaboration with GovTech and the Polish Press Agency. We hope that such a versatile solution will find enough attention on the European level.

The necessities in order to continue the project

The solution is Open-source and ready to use. We are open to collaboration case-by-case to enhance the solutions or tailor it to the needs of the European community.

We see it reasonable to continue work next month on NLP so we can train the solutions to bring automated recommendations to users or experts. We imagine, that every user having a plugin installed while visiting a website with news, can receive information on the “Trust” level or automatically get “Verified” or “Fake” status.

The solution then will be self-learning, and only expertise from predefined domains (i.e. biology, physics, technology, etc) then will be needed to mark the news in a dedicated panel.

The value of our solution after the crisis

The solution as an information intelligence system has a broad range of applications during and after the crisis. We see it as a must-have tool for:

a) Single-Users, having constant feedback and recommendations on the content they read or browse; with impact to saving time to search for verified information.

b) Community portals, regional portals, or country press agencies, improving the quality of content served to their habitats or readers.

c) Corporate portals constantly managing multiple issues around communication, taking care of the good name, with an impact on consumers, investors, or employees. SMEs and corporates will use the tool to trace fake or misleading information about their governance, products, or services.

d) General black-PR prevention.

Usage of the proposed solution will directly or indirectly reduce resources put into rectification, crisis management, or multiple reprints of invaluable content distributed through online media channels. The societal value means less stress, fewer rumors, and more trust. This, as in multiple research sources stated - brings a reduction of violence, economic growth, and higher index of happiness (multiple studies by D. Kahnemann, R. Sapolsky, M. Seligman, D. Goleman). All of that contributes heavily to the whole economical and social situation in every country or company.

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