SFU cybercrime team fights COVID-19 misinformation with artificial intelligence

Simon Fraser University's International CyberCrime Research Centre (ICCRC) is engaged in a new project to develop artificial intelligence tools to fight COVID-19-related misinformation campaigns on social media. Throughout the pandemic, anti-science theories on social media that portray COVID-19 as a hoax or downplay the risk of infection have contributed to unnecessary transmission and death. Some research suggests that one-in-three people have encountered false or misleading information about COVID-19 on social media. And while COVID-19 vaccines are rolling out, misinformation on social media still fuels vaccine hesitancy in Canada and resistance to public health measures such as mask wearing. To combat this, the ICCRC - in SFU's School of Criminology - has received federal funding from the Digital Citizenship Contribution Program for a six-month research project to develop an artificial intelligence tool to help social media platforms, online service providers and government agencies identify COVID-19 misinformation campaigns on social media and take appropriate action.