Learning to Control Misinformation: a Closed-loop Approach for Misinformation Mitigation over Social Networks

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Pagan, Nicolo', Philippou, Andreas, De Pasquale, Giulia
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Pagan, Nicolo'
Philippou, Andreas
De Pasquale, Giulia
author_facet Pagan, Nicolo'
Philippou, Andreas
De Pasquale, Giulia
contents Modern social networks rely on recommender systems that inadvertently amplify misinformation by prioritizing engagement over content veracity. We present a control framework that mitigates misinformation spread while maintaining user engagement by penalizing content characteristics commonly exploited by false information, specifically, extreme negative sentiment and novelty. We extend the closed-loop Friedkin-Johnsen model to incorporate the mitigation of misinformation together with the maximization of user engagement. Both model-free and model-based control strategies demonstrate up to 76% reduction in misinformation propagation across diverse network configurations, validated through simulations using the LIAR2 dataset with sentiment features extracted via large language models. Analysis of engagement-misinformation trade-offs reveals that in networks with radical users, median engagement improves even as misinformation decreases, suggesting content moderation enhances discourse quality for non-extremist users. The framework provides practical guidance for platform operators in balancing misinformation suppression with engagement objectives.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_12393
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Learning to Control Misinformation: a Closed-loop Approach for Misinformation Mitigation over Social Networks
Pagan, Nicolo'
Philippou, Andreas
De Pasquale, Giulia
Social and Information Networks
Systems and Control
Modern social networks rely on recommender systems that inadvertently amplify misinformation by prioritizing engagement over content veracity. We present a control framework that mitigates misinformation spread while maintaining user engagement by penalizing content characteristics commonly exploited by false information, specifically, extreme negative sentiment and novelty. We extend the closed-loop Friedkin-Johnsen model to incorporate the mitigation of misinformation together with the maximization of user engagement. Both model-free and model-based control strategies demonstrate up to 76% reduction in misinformation propagation across diverse network configurations, validated through simulations using the LIAR2 dataset with sentiment features extracted via large language models. Analysis of engagement-misinformation trade-offs reveals that in networks with radical users, median engagement improves even as misinformation decreases, suggesting content moderation enhances discourse quality for non-extremist users. The framework provides practical guidance for platform operators in balancing misinformation suppression with engagement objectives.
title Learning to Control Misinformation: a Closed-loop Approach for Misinformation Mitigation over Social Networks
topic Social and Information Networks
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.12393