Tech firms, media entities form a coalition to address the menace of misinformation

The C2PA alliance features technology firms such as Microsoft, Adobe, Arm and Intel. Here is how the alliance plans to tackle the problem of disinformation, misinformation, and online content fraud.

Fake news and misinformation around Covid-19 have been spreading rapidly. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Technology firms Microsoft, Adobe, Arm and Intel have formed an alliance with BBC and photo verification firm Truepic. Called the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), the objective is to address the problem of disinformation, misinformation, and online content fraud on the internet. The founding members of the coalition said they would develop a “provenance solution" to resolve the problem.

The solution will essentially feature content provenance specifications for asset types and formats for content. The coalition hopes the solution will allow publishers, content creators, and users to better track the origin and evolution of content on the web. It also includes images, documents, videos, and audio. The specifications will also include setting a definition of information linked with each type of content asset. It will also aim to provide insights into the presentation and stored to detect tampering. Another highlight of the coalition is that it would adopt an open standard for better access to publishers and others.

The coalition builds upon similar projects that aim to address the problem of disinformation and misinformation on the web. For instance, Adobe leads a programme called Content Authenticity Initiative (ACI). BBC also leads a programme called Origin Content. The new C2PA coalition will also aim to unify the technical standards used by the other two initiatives.

“There's a critical need to address widespread deception in online content — now supercharged by advances in AI and graphics and diffused rapidly via the internet. Our imperative as researchers and technologists is to create and refine technical and sociotechnical approaches to this grand challenge of our time. We're excited about methods for certifying the origin and provenance of online content. It's an honour to work alongside Adobe, BBC and other C2PA members to take this critical work to the next step,” said Eric Horvitz, Chief Scientific Officer and Project Origin executive sponsor, Microsoft in a release.

Even as the coverage of the internet has spread globally, internet firms as well as individuals are struggling to cope with the spread of misinformation, disinformation, and manipulated media on the web. A few months ago, we saw social networking platforms taking unprecedented measures to counter fake news during and after the US presidential elections. Industry pundits are divided over whether the actions taken were sufficient or not to counter the spread of misinformation on the web.