Blocking the Spread of Misinformation in a Network under Distinct Cost Models

Abstract

Given a network $N$ and a set of nodes that are the starting point for the spread of misinformation across $N$ and an integer $k$, in the \emph{influence blocking maximization} problem the goal is to find $k$ nodes in $N$ as the starting point for a competing information (say, a correct information) across $N$ such that the reach of the misinformation is minimized. In this paper we deal with a more realistic scenario for this problem where different nodes have different costs and the counter strategy has a “budget” for picking nodes for a solution.