Beyond Detection: Disinformation and the Amplification of Toxic Content in the Age of Social Media

Dear Colleagues,

The MDPI journal Information is seeking submissions for a Special Issue on “Beyond Detection: Disinformation and the Amplification of Toxic Content in the Age of Social Media”.

The rise of disinformation and the amplification of toxic content (hate speech, polarization, harassment, etc.) on social media initially created a momentum for fighting such information disorders, with fact-checkers and debunkers in the frontline. Since then, the focus has shifted to re-inventing digital spaces to be immune to toxic content, with alternative tools, protocols and structures being developed (using blockchain, OSINT, etc.). The role of social media has also undergone much scrutiny, with the interest in social media analysis moving beyond Social Network Analysis (SNA) to include innovative methodologies to trace and monitor amplification phenomena, including via alternative social media. Such methods and tools are solutions aimed at fostering sound digital spaces that are safe from information disorders and opinion manipulation, intent on avoiding the amplification of toxic content.

This Special Issue aims to present the latest advances concerning social media analysis in the context of disinformation detection, platform design, and the mitigation of toxic content amplification. Articles using theoretical perspectives on the properties required for a digital environment to maintain sound information spaces are welcome, as are articles with innovative suggestions to reduce toxic content. Special attention will be paid to critical analyses that consider the dysfunctional organization of early social media platforms and open vistas on the design and implementation of information–sound spaces, their structures, and the actors that promote them. 

Topics of interest may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Social media and opinion mining;
• Opinion dynamics;
• Fake news amplification, detection, and fact-checking solutions;
• Innovative tools, protocols and techniques for detecting online disinformation;
• The design of sound information systems and how they are proffered to users;
• Embedded algorithmic bias and toxic content;
• Shaping/reshaping sound information spaces;
• The impacts of recommender systems (including AI systems) on digital spaces and social groups;
• Alternative social media infrastructure designs.

Prof. Dr. Divina Frau-Meigs
Dr. David Chavalarias
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Information is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.