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Agent-Based Modeling

Computational methodology that simulates complex systems by modeling individual agents (people, institutions, bots, or other entities) as autonomous actors with defined properties, decision-making rules, and interaction mechanisms. The aggregate behavior that emerges from many agents' interactions can reveal macro-level system dynamics not directly specified at the micro level.

In misinformation research, agent-based models are used to simulate how fake news propagates through populations, how individuals form and update beliefs, and how interventions (fact-checks, warnings, counter-messaging) can slow or reverse the spread of false information.

Key papers