Swarm Network, a platform developing decentralised protocols for AI agents, recently announced the successful results of its first Swarm, a tool (perhaps “organism” is the better term) built to tackle disinformation. Called Rollup News, the swarm is not an app, a software platform, nor a centralised algorithm. It is a decentralised collection of AI agents that collaborate to solve a bigger problem. The problem is that platforms like X allow any type of viral claims, some by incredibly influential people. How can we know what is true?
Currently, we try to solve this problem through equally loud opposing voices who offer facts or expert opinions. But if those sources are from a political side you oppose, why should you trust them? After all, these are people with their own motivations, and two additional issues are created: facts presented by a single person can easily get caught up in the “fake news” accusations; and misinformation presented as “facts” can be used to attack the ground truth.
Unfortunately, this isn’t just a current trend that will eventually lose its popularity and fade out. The more technology and access to varied news sources we have, the harder it becomes to not treat these sources equally. Some might be a traditional outlet that is legally liable if they falsify claims. Others might be a popular podcaster with an audience of millions, and whose fear-mongering ties nicely in with the products in their merch store. If it stopped at this, we could probably tell the truth from fiction. But it isn’t that simple. Official news channels have a history of spinning the news in their own bias, or ignoring other stories that are important to the public. On the other side, there are genuinely powerful influencers who seem to be hell bent on finding the truth and reporting it, no matter what side of the political spectrum it hits.
The world has become both confusing and dangerous, and the old “sticks and stones” saying has been proven false. After all, we have seen global elections swayed by disinformation, major policy shifts driven by false claims, lives damaged and lost as the result of powerful people lying, but lying loudly enough and often enough to sway large groups of people into believing them; and convincing these same groups that any facts to the contrary are the actual “fake news.”
Fixing fact checking
Given how challenging the disinformation industry is, and how absolutely slippery the truth is today, how can anyone hope to battle it? We have seen that people of all sides, realising that all news is skewed to some extent, will believe those sources that support their pre-existing beliefs.
A third party source, backed by overwhelming evidence, is needed to arbitrate. The source should not have an opinion, its methods should be transparent, and everyone should be able to see the same thing. This is nearly impossible, but the Web3 industry has shown that these attributes are what makes it incredibly powerful. Smart contracts handle billions in value daily, managing agreements from complete strangers from anywhere on the globe. The information is validated and the decisions are transparent, then locked in via the blockchain. The model has moved trillions of dollars using these very powerful, and neutral, tools.
Combine this trust with the other element Web3 excels in: decentralisation. Now attach another fast-emerging technology, the AI agent, which is easily built and designed to perform one task very well. The system is the centre of Swarm Network’s model, and its first deployment is Rollup News. The growing population of AI agents, the swarm, is designed to work collectively to scour the corners of X, find claims from users, and collectively test their validity using sources found in the information space. The results of these assessments are posted on the blockchain once validated by a large enough group of independent agents. Selective human participation helps to ensure the context and other subtle areas are handled well. The human element is also decentralised, preventing any particular viewpoint from being able to assert itself, and misconduct equals expulsion if someone tries to present fiction as fact. Rollup News has been operating for several months, with astonishing results: 128,000+ users have been onboarded, with over 5,000 rollup requests daily in July 2025. Over 3 million tweets were processed during that time, which is impressive in its own right, but when you consider the designed scalability of Web3 and AI agents working together, this is the linchpin of the battle in a world of disinformation.
The start of something new?
Rollup News’ success and Swarm Network’s larger model teach us a few things about fixing today’s problems. It is a demonstration that Web3 and AI are components in providing scalable solutions, that small AI agents can effectively work together to solve giant challenges, even if there is no centralised system. That decentralised environment, anchored by Web3, is the key to generating transparency, trust, and allowing strangers anywhere in the world to work together. Finally, the tokenisation of such a system creates the necessary incentives to attract more participants, fuelling the growth of a system. As long as it creates value, people will pay for its use, and those who help to validate and secure the decentralised network earn rewards. The type of truly free market system can scale up or down with the global demand faster than any traditional company. Swarm Network’s founder, Yannick Myson, sums it up nicely: “Rollup News shows what’s possible when AI agents, human insight, and blockchain converge. This isn’t a prototype – it’s working, and it’s scaling.”
We need to pay close attention to these lessons, as they offer a great deal of insight. First, the “truth-tech” sector, which is focused on using technology to combat mis/dis-information, has a strong blueprint for combining blockchain and AI. Second, there are many other sectors that need this level of global scaling and independent management, with untold value just ready to be developed and launched.
Image source: Unsplash
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