Social Observatory for Disinformation and Social Media Analysis

An exponential increase in the use of social media has accelerated information diffusion. Disinformation also spreads, often faster and more widely than true news, posing a risk for democracy, national security, and social fabric, and undermining society’s trust in the information. It is therefore necessary to understand and measure the impacts of disinformation on opinions, culture, policy, and profits, as well as develop specific tools and services to allow citizens and the professional community to understand Social Media correctly. The SOMA (Social Observatory for Disinformation and Social Media Analysis) project aims to provide a springboard for the social media sector to steer an understanding of its dynamics and the relationship between social media and other sectors. SOMA will: map European social media actors by using an open community-based mapping service; establish a European centre for social media stakeholders undertaking research on disinformation; and, develop a Source Transparency Index to immediately verify sources. Key proposed solutions are: (i) a platform for content verification; (ii) fact-checking tools; (iii) social media mapping and visualisation tools for the engagement of European Social Media Innovation initiatives and EU projects. SOMA will also: (iv) develop a methodology for the socio-economic impact assessment of disinformation; (v) provide strategies and actions to increase media literacy, analyse legal roadblocks and community-based self-regulation aspects; (vi) provide policy recommendations based on the analysis of the information collected by the Observatory; (vii) develop tools for community-mapping and an analysis of a future hyper-connected society; (viii) create a repository of disinformation-related knowledge. The overall expected impact by SOMA is the creation of a solid environment to increase awareness among stakeholders on social media topics and develop tools and instruments for the social media community.