Fake buster

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Inspiration

Inspiration In today’s fast-paced world, especially as Gen Z, we rarely get the full story. Most of us scroll through short-form videos, 30-second reels, or just glance at headlines and instantly form opinions. The problem? Many media outlets twist or change the context of news, creating confusion and spreading misinformation. This inspired us to build FakeBuster — a tool that scans news articles and tells you if they come from trusted sources or not, helping users stay aware and avoid falling for fake news or wrong impressions.

What it does

FakeBuster scans news articles and checks if they come from trusted sources or not. It uses AI to analyze the content and gives a trust score that tells you how reliable the news is. This helps you spot fake news, avoid misinformation, and make smarter decisions about what you read — all in seconds, no deep digging required.

How we built it

Frontend: Built with React and Vite for a fast, responsive user interface that works smoothly on desktop and mobile.

Backend: Powered by Firebase Functions to handle API requests and run the trust score calculations securely.

News Data: We fetch articles from reliable news APIs and use AI-powered content analysis to check credibility.

Authentication: Firebase Auth lets users optionally sign in to save their history and bookmarks.

Design: We focused on a clean, minimal UI with clear feedback — loading animations, trust score visuals, and easy-to-read results.

Challenges: Integrating AI analysis with real-time performance was tricky, but optimizing API calls and caching helped keep the app fast and user-friendly.

Challenges we ran into

Building FakeBuster wasn’t without hurdles. We had to figure out how to accurately analyze trustworthiness, source reliability, and present it simply. Balancing the technical side (API integrations, scoring algorithms) with a clean, user-friendly interface took iterations and some late-night debugging sessions. But overcoming these challenges helped us create a tool that’s both powerful and approachable.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Built a real-time AI-powered news verification tool that anyone can use without needing tech skills.

Created a clean, intuitive UI that makes fact-checking quick and approachable — no more confusing jargon or clutter.

Successfully integrated multiple APIs and Firebase services to deliver smooth, fast performance.

Developed a trust scoring system that helps users instantly understand news credibility at a glance.

Overcame technical challenges like latency and data accuracy to create a reliable and scalable app.

Designed the app with mobile-first responsiveness, making it perfect for Gen Z’s on-the-go lifestyle.

What we learned

This project deepened our understanding of AI-powered content verification, the importance of clear UX in building trust, and how critical it is to fight misinformation in the digital age. It also taught us the power of combining design and tech to solve real-world problems.

What's next for Fake buster

Expand AI accuracy: Improve our trust scoring with deeper natural language processing and more data sources to catch subtle misinformation.

User accounts: Add personalized dashboards where users can track their fact-checking history and save important articles.

Community features: Let users flag suspicious news, share verified articles, and build a trusted news community.

Browser extension: Create a lightweight extension to verify news instantly while browsing social media or news sites.

Multilingual support: Broaden FakeBuster’s reach by supporting news verification in multiple languages.

Mobile app: Develop a dedicated app for iOS and Android with push notifications for breaking news alerts and real-time fact checks.

Built With

• bolt
• netlify