# Health Misinformation in Social Networks: A Survey of Information Technology Approaches
## 2 Overview  
In this section, we provide an overview of fake news and its intersections with related concepts such as disinformation and satire. On social media, the fake news lifecycle encompasses the phases of the creation, publication, and propagation, often leveraging cognitive biases to enhance its spread. In the health domain, misinformation--particularly concerning vaccines and COVID-19--proliferates due to limited scientific literacy and the influence of conspiracy theories. Detecting and mitigating fake news involves both manual and automated fact-checking, as well as algorithmic approaches that examine the content, propagation patterns, and sources of fake news. Below we discuss the above in more detail. There is no universally accepted definition of fake news. An understanding of fake news is attained by considering the dimensions of authenticity, intention, and news content [14, 20]. The _authenticity dimension_ refers to whether the factual claims in the news item are valid. The _intention dimension_ is about whether there is intention to deceive in creating or propagating the news item. Finally, the _news dimension_ refers to whether the content of the item is about news or not. In the case of social media, the news dimension is often not clear, since blogs and social platforms have allowed non-journalists to reach large audiences, challenging the traditional definition of what news is [20]. There are many information disorders along the dimensions of authenticity and intention that overlap with fake news. The term _misinformation_ is used to characterize both intentionally and unintentionally false or misleading information, while the term _disinformation_ is used for false information that is purposely spread to deceive people [21]. In this paper, we will consider mainly misinformation. Malinformation is the deliberate dissemination of true information (e.g., leaking private information) and it is not considered fake news [22]. There is also a long list of other concepts in the authenticity, intention, and news spectrum related to fake news [14, 20, 22]. Two such concepts are _satire_ and _parody_ that use humor or exaggeration to draw attention and often entertain. Both share the assumption that the users are aware that the presentation or the content is intentionally faux. Fake information may also be part of _advertising_ or _public relations_ when marketing or other persuasive messages are inserted into news articles. A somewhat similar case is _propaganda_ that refers to news items created by political entities to influence public perceptions. Other concepts include _hoaxes_ referring to half-truths made for fun, _runors_ referring to ambiguous stories whose truthfulness never gets confirmed, and _clickbait_ referring to misleading headlines for engaging the audience. When it comes to social networks, the _lifecycle_ of fake news includes the phases of news creation, publishing on the network, and online propagation. The author of the news item is the person that first created the news item. The author may be a journalist writing a newspaper article, a scientist writing a scientific article, or in some cases, a normal user. The publisher is the person that first posted the item on the social network platform. In some cases, the publisher is also the author of the item. Propagation means any kind of reaction that leads to the item getting additional exposure. Depending on the media, reactions include repostings or retweets, commenting, and various other actions of endorsement or disapproval, such as likes, upvotes, or downvotes. In particular, in the medical domain, misinformation is often created and spread by individuals with no scientific affiliation that assume the role of expert patients, promote individual autonomy, and challenge state actions [19]. By promoting fear and anxiety, and through the horizontal diffusion of conspiracy theories, they are able to erode in an irreversible way the vertical health communication strategies.