A multi-disciplinary research collaboration between RMIT, QUT, and the University of Melbourne: including Devi Mallal from ABC NEWS Verify, Prof. Falk Scholer and Dr. Damiano Spina from RMIT’s School of Computing Technologies, Dr. Lauren Saling from the School of Psychology, Assoc. Prof. Michelle Riedlinger and Ned Watt from QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre and Dr. Silvia Montana-Nino from the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Advancing Journalism.
RESEARCHING THE DIGITAL NEWS ECOSYSTEM
The collaboration combines understanding of the digital news ecosystem and fact-checking with expertise in the fields of information access and retrieval and psychology to investigate how combinations of technological and human factors contribute to the spread of mis- and dis-information, and how automated technologies can be used to tackle it. The collective’s potential to conduct research is evidenced by fruitful collaboration in the context of the Quantifying and Measuring Bias and Engagement project, as well as co-authored research outputs and the presentation of co-design workshops.
- Watch ‘n’ Check, A paper detailing a social media monitoring tool developed as part of a Computer Science Master student’s thesis, was presented at the IEEE 7th International Conference on Data Science and Advanced Analytics;
- ‘What do facts sound like?’, a workshop exploring the impact of voice-enabled virtual assistants driven by artificial intelligence on the discoverability of verified fact-check content, was presented by members of the group at the Seventh Global Fact-Checking Summit (GlobalFact7);
- Results of a survey of over 1500 CheckMate (previously CoronaCheck) newsletter subscribers, seeking to identify any correlations that exist between participants’ willingness to share unverified information and willingness to have the COVID-19 vaccine and their stated belief in science and susceptibility to conspiracy theories was published in a PLOS ONE article.
The group recently presented insights about how automated decision-making systems can be used to combat misinformation in the Global South at the ADM+s Automated News and Media symposium and is currently evaluating the effectiveness of a suite of automated claim detection tools deployed by RMIT ABC Fact Check during the Voice to Parliament referendum.
As partners of ADM+S, RMIT, QUT and the University of Melbourne, the group is strategically placed to support students and researchers studying misinformation online and to explore the use of automated tools to monitor and counter its spread.
If you would like more information about our research, please contact Devi Mallal: mallal.devi@abc.net.au or Michelle Riedlinger: michelle.riedlinger@qut.edu.au
PUBLICATIONS

Watt, N., Riedlinger, M., & Montaña-Niño, S. (2025). Meta is abandoning fact checking – this doesn’t bode well for the fight against misinformation. The Conversation.

Riedlinger, M., Montaña-Niño, S., Watt, N., García-Perdomo, V., & Joubert, M. (2024). Fact-checking role performances and problematic Covid-19 vaccine content in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. Media and Communication, 12.

Montana-Nino, S. X., Riedlinger, M., Watt, N., Joubert, M., & Garcia-Perdomo, V. (2022). Fact checking the pandemic in the Global South: Correction strategies by Latin American and African Meta fact checkers. Selected Papers in Internet Research 2022: Research from the Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (pp. 1-9).

Montaña-Niño, S., Vziatysheva, V., Dehghan, E., Badola, A., Zhu, G., Vinhas, O., … & Glazunova, S. (2024). Fact-checkers on the fringe: Investigating methods and practices associated with contested areas of fact-checking. Media and Communication, 12.
MEDIA

Changes to Meta Fact Checking Policies with Ned Watt and Michelle Riedlinger

Meta’s Misinformation Shift: A Decision to Ditch the Experts with Silvia Montana-Nino.
RESEARCHERS

Devi Mallal
ABC News Verify

Prof Falk Scholer
Associate Investigator,
RMIT University

Dr Damiano Spina
Associate Investigator,
RMIT University

Dr Lauren Saling
School of Psychology,
RMIT University

Assoc Prof Michelle Riedlinger
Affiliate,
QUT

Ned Watt
PhD Student,
QUT

Dr Silvia Montaña-Niño
Associate Investigator,
University of Melbourne
PARTNERS

ABC News Verify

RMIT University

QUT

University of Melbourne