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| Simon Erskine Locke |
In the digital world content may still be king, but trust in content it is taking a hammering.
With the rise of misinformation, AI-driven fakes, imposter content, and relentless email and texting scams, the importance of being able to verify what is authentic and what is not is a critical issue facing communicators and our audiences.
It is important to stop and think through the implications of the erosion of trusted content. What if a press release you issue during a crisis is dismissed as a fake? What if a cybercriminal issues a fake release that audiences think is real? What if your target audiences simply do not trust content enough to read it?
The world’s largest technology and media companies, and an emerging ecosystem of technology startups, including my company Tauth.io, are working on a cutting-edge approach to building provenance into content. At its simplest, the idea is to integrate digital watermarks into documents, images, audio and video in ways that prove their authenticity.
Here are six things communicators need to know about content provenance authentication:
We are shifting from a “trust but verify” world to “verify then trust”
As trust in content is being eroded, audiences are increasingly looking to verify that what they are receiving is authentic. Content provenance authentication provides a way to build trust into content.
Content authentication helps address new risks facing communicators
Criminal gangs, lone wolves and state-sponsored actors are engaged in efforts to sow disinformation and misinformation. Individuals and companies are subject to blackmail, extortion, deepfakes, imposter content, and other malicious attacks. Fake content has been and will be used to manipulate markets, impact reputations and sway leaders. Fraud has always been around, but AI is taking it to a new level. Content provenance authentication provides a way for companies to add a layer of digital security to their content and help clients spot fraudulent content before they act on it.
A next-generation technology based on global standards
Content provenance authentication is built around three key steps: 1) the verification of companies or individuals as content originators, 2) the integration of robust digital watermarks in content and 3) the potential to immutably register content on blockchain. The technology is based on global standards established by the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity. Once content has been authenticated and credentials have been incorporated, users can verify that it is authentic automatically using our browser extensions or by clicking on an embedded link to view the content manifest.
Authenticating content is a competitive advantage
When authenticated by companies, content is more likely to be trusted. Content that appears suspicious without credentials is less likely to gain traction. For example, journalists will be more likely to trust and report on an authenticated press release. Content curators will be more likely to select authenticated content. Over time, authenticated content is expected to be more highly ranked in traditional and AI search tools. In short, authentication increases the value of content.
Companies will need to authenticate content to stay ahead of fraudsters and scammers
There is an arms race between the good guys and the bad guys in the digital universe, and you are a target. Strong cybersecurity practices, user verification, content authentication, digital safe spaces, and tools to identify fraudulent content are all key components to increase trust in content and reduce the risk of reputational damage by malicious actors.
Legislators are working on bills to integrate content authentication into government documents
The New York State legislature has a bill currently under consideration that will mandate that certain political communications incorporate content provenance. More will follow. It is not a question of if, but when the technology will be a requirement.
Although the focus here is on communications, content authentication has applications across the digital landscape. The core technology is a launch point for the development of new applications. At Tauth.io, we are focused on creating customized credentials in the communications industry for individual companies and on providing tools to manage authenticated content on blockchain.
Not only can the technology be used to verify the source of content, but it can also provide proof of where images were taken and videos filmed, as well as how they may have been manipulated or whether they were AI-generated.
It’s important to recognize that authentication technology is not on its own a magic bullet. It is one of a range of solutions that include tools that are being used to identify misinformation and deepfakes – it is an approach that builds into content at or before it is published a way to verify that it is authentic.
As a senior executive at a global media company shared, in three years we’ll be wondering how it was possible that content did not include provenance credentials.
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Simon Erskine Locke is co-founder & CEO of Tauth.io, which provides trusted content authentication based on C2PA standards, and founder & CEO of CommunicationsMatch™. He is a former head of communications functions at Prudential Financial, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank, and founder of communications consultancies.
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