Title: Combating Fake News: A Survey on Identification and Mitigation Techniques,
Abstract: The proliferation of fake news on social media has opened up new directions
of research for timely identification and containment of fake news, and
mitigation of its widespread impact on public opinion. While much of the
earlier research was focused on identification of fake news based on its
contents or by exploiting users' engagements with the news on social media,
there has been a rising interest in proactive intervention strategies to
counter the spread of misinformation and its impact on society. In this survey,
we describe the modern-day problem of fake news and, in particular, highlight
the technical challenges associated with it. We discuss existing methods and
techniques applicable to both identification and mitigation, with a focus on
the significant advances in each method and their advantages and limitations.
In addition, research has often been limited by the quality of existing
datasets and their specific application contexts. To alleviate this problem, we
comprehensively compile and summarize characteristic features of available
datasets. Furthermore, we outline new directions of research to facilitate
future development of effective and interdisciplinary solutions.