IU grad combats the spread of fake news with new mobile app
Avram works on Fakey at his desk. Photo by Eric Rudd, IU Communications
The spread of fake news is no game, but to recent Indiana University graduate Mihai Avram, a game just might be the solution.
As a graduate student in the IU School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, Avram developed a mobile app called Fakey to help combat the spread of fake news on social media. It is available to download for both Android and iOS.
The news literacy game places users in a simulated social media environment where they can share, "like" or fact-check articles. Users are given feedback for their actions and earn points if they share stories from legitimate new sources, or if they fact-check articles from false or misleading reports or other types of misinformation.