Meet Truthy, a government project that will scan Twitter for 'social pollution'

Big Brother is reading your tweets. At least that's what it seems like with an ambitious new project called Truthy, which is partially funded by the U.S. Federal government.

The study is being conducted by researchers from the University of Indiana and backed by the National Science Foundation. The project aims to use data collected from Twitter feeds to determine how misinformation, or so-called "social pollution," is spread through online social media.

The name "Truthy" was inspired by satirical TV talk show host Stephen Colbert. He coined the term during the premiere episode of his show, The Colbert Report, where he defined the word as "truth that wouldn't stand to be held back by facts."