A Browser Extension for in-place Signaling and Assessment of Misinformation

A Browser Extension for in-place Signaling and Assessment of Misinformation

May 11–16, 2024, Honolulu, HI, USA | Farmaz Jahanbakhsh, David R. Karger
The paper presents a browser extension designed to empower users to assess the accuracy of web content and signal their trust in specific sources. The extension, called Trustnet, allows users to see assessments of content by trusted sources, both on the page they are visiting and on outgoing links. This tool aims to democratize misinformation moderation, giving users more control over what content they consume and how they moderate it. The study involved 32 participants who used the extension for two weeks, assessing content daily and sharing it with others on the Trustnet platform. The results show that users found the tool valuable, with a wide range of content assessed, and provided insights into their assessment criteria and perceptions of the tool's advantages and disadvantages. The study also identified a taxonomy of criteria for assessing content credibility and explored how users perceive and use the tool. The main contributions include the design of the system, a new taxonomy of credibility criteria, and an empirical understanding of user behavior and perceptions. The extension's architecture and design decisions are detailed, along with its integration with the Trustnet platform. The paper concludes with recommendations for extending the tool to other domains and enhancing its functionality.The paper presents a browser extension designed to empower users to assess the accuracy of web content and signal their trust in specific sources. The extension, called Trustnet, allows users to see assessments of content by trusted sources, both on the page they are visiting and on outgoing links. This tool aims to democratize misinformation moderation, giving users more control over what content they consume and how they moderate it. The study involved 32 participants who used the extension for two weeks, assessing content daily and sharing it with others on the Trustnet platform. The results show that users found the tool valuable, with a wide range of content assessed, and provided insights into their assessment criteria and perceptions of the tool's advantages and disadvantages. The study also identified a taxonomy of criteria for assessing content credibility and explored how users perceive and use the tool. The main contributions include the design of the system, a new taxonomy of credibility criteria, and an empirical understanding of user behavior and perceptions. The extension's architecture and design decisions are detailed, along with its integration with the Trustnet platform. The paper concludes with recommendations for extending the tool to other domains and enhancing its functionality.
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