March 2019, Paris region. Two men are violently dragged out of a van and beaten. The cause: a rumour spread on social media, claiming that “white vans” were kidnapping children. Analysis of social media can help us to understand how such rumours spread: distinguishing between the target and the source within the network can contribute to a better understanding of how such information can be disseminated, according to the results of a recent theoretical study.
October 27th 2025
