Fake News Theories: Harnessing Disciplinary Insights for Computational Modeling, Detection, and Explanation

arXiv:2609.30427v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Disinformation research has produced increasingly accurate automated fake-news detectors, but many systems remain difficult to interpret and are weakly connected to established theories of persuasion, credibility, and human judgment. In this paper, we develop a theory-informed computational framework that translates cross-disciplinary theories of fake news into measurable features for automated detection and explanation through statistical techniques and large language models. To that end, we conduct a structured cross-disciplinary review of theories from social sciences, psychology, economics, among other disciplines that reveal how fake news persuades and spreads, thereby establishing a broad theoretical foundation for computational modeling. Experiments on benchmark datasets show that theory-derived features are predictive and provide interpretable, theory-referenced diagnostic signals. Multi-feature models generally outperform individual features, although gains among the strongest small feature combinations are modest. Our work highlights the value of interdisciplinary perspectives in building robust and interpretable fake news detection systems, advancing the foundation for human-centered approaches in combating disinformation.

Paper proposes a framework for fake news detection, but implications for human flourishing are uncertain.

SOURCE     arXiv cs.CY (Computers and Society) (tier 1)
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DOCUMENT   1d6a0daf-46f4-4029-874b-1fb7c9ea8988
           https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.30427
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EVIDENCE   2 extracted excerpts
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MODEL RUN  1 run, methodology 1.0.1
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SCORE      +10  (Mixed or uncertain)
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CONFIDENCE 70%