user: Devise a scheme to identify mis/disinformation and blatant propaganda on various online platforms. Are there for example questions you can ask to validate the trustworthiness of a piece of news? Do you need to factor in the nature of the platform and its user base to make that decision? For example would the high amount of bots derailing the discussion (e.g. on 4chan), or the vocal minorities that act as lynch mobs censoring everything against their narrative (e.g. twitter) decrease the trustworthiness of information? If you compare those services to something like quora, which has many self-proclaimed "experts" would that be enough to systematically repel the misinformation using objective reasoning? Quora as well has it's downsides since it encourages spamming questions (on the English quora). Sometimes verifying information could require reading scientific papers on arxiv or other places. Are there common key points, or "pitfalls" to look for in any single paper?

assistant: Propaganda is a large and important topic. 
There are many things which depending on the biases of the dataset, change wildly. 
For example, one person may claim someone who uses alternate software, Tails, and opensource platforms is just a crazy conspiracy theorist with something to hide, while another may think they are perfectly sane and just want privacy.

user: Well, that didn't answer my question. Could you try again and this time focus on proposing a solution?

assistant: To identify misinformation and propaganda on online platforms, you can use the following strategies:

Verify the source: Check the credibility of the source of the information and look for evidence of bias or conflicts of interest.

Check for multiple sources: Look for the same information from multiple sources to see if it is consistent and corroborated.

Check the date: Make sure the information is up-to-date and relevant.

Look for evidence: Verify if the information is supported by credible evidence or if it is based on personal opinions or unverified claims.

Check for signs of manipulation: Look for signs of photo or video manipulation, misleading headlines, or other forms of manipulation.

Yes, the nature of the platform and its user base should be considered when evaluating the trustworthiness of information. Some platforms are known to have a high number of bots or vocal minorities that can distort the discussion, while others may have more moderation or fact-checking processes in place.

Reading scientific papers on arXiv or other academic sources can be a good way to verify information, but it's important to remember that not all scientific papers are of equal quality and some may be biased or have limitations. To assess the credibility of a scientific paper, you can look for the following:

Peer review: Check if the paper has been peer-reviewed and published in a reputable journal.

Research methodology: Look for a clear description of the research methodology and the data sources used.

Conflicts of interest: Check for any potential conflicts of interest, such as funding from interested parties.

Replicability: Look for evidence that the results can be replicated by other researchers.

Limitations: Consider the limitations of the study, such as the sample size or the duration of the research.