ROMCIR 2024: Overview of the 4th Workshop on Reducing Online Misinformation Through Credible Information Retrieval

In the realm of the Social Web, we are continuously surrounded by information pollution, posing significant threats to both individuals and society as a whole. Instances of false news, for instance, wield the power to sway public opinion on matters of politics and finance. Deceptive reviews can either bolster or tarnish the reputation of businesses, while unverified medical advice may steer people toward harmful health practices. In light of this challenging landscape, it has become imperative to ensure that users have access to both topically relevant and truthful information that does not warp their perception of reality, and there has been a surge of interest in various strategies to combat disinformation through different contexts and multiple tasks. The purpose of the ROMCIR Workshop, for some years now, is precisely that of engaging the Information Retrieval community to explore potential solutions that extend beyond conventional misinformation detection approaches. Key objectives include integrating information truthfulness as a fundamental dimension of relevance within Information Retrieval Systems (IRSs) and ensuring that truthful search results are also explainable to IRS users. Moreover, it is essential to evaluate the role of generative models such as Language Models (LLMs) in inadvertently amplifying misinformation problems, and how they can be used to support IRSs.