New Method Catches Deep Fakes and Fake News
In his article “How to Deal With Undetectable Deep Fakes” Sydney Butler explores how sophisticated deep fakes have become, noting that it has become increasingly difficult for the ordinary web user to detect fake images and videos. For that matter, it has become increasingly difficult for experts.
Butler recommends skepticism and paranoia as ways of dealing with a web full of fakes. Is that sustainable? Sooner or later, each of us will be convinced to believe something that’s false, on the basis of faked evidence, in the form of tampered video – or simply a news story that’s been altered from what the journalist originally wrote. Not only does the journalist get misquoted, but the journalist’s sources as well.
We Now Have A Better Way
We hear a lot about Web3, NFTs, cryptocurrencies etc., but one thing that gets lost in the noise is the fact that they’re all manifestations of something that can solve the deep fakes problem. That something is what’s enabled the “tunnels” that get constructed every time you go to a site that starts with https://. It’s asymmetric cryptography.
Asymmetric cryptography is often pigeonholed into its role as an aid to the kind of encryption that allows us to share files in confidence. But in this age of inauthenticity, it has an even bigger and more useful role as the technology behind TDS – True Digital Signatures.
We’re not talking about “electronic signatures” here, or even electronic signatures using the proper method of asymmetric cryptography so that not a single bit has been changed from the original. We're talking about True Digital Signatures. With TDS not only is the right technology (AC) being used (so that not a single bit has been changed) but, just as important, 1) the signing is done using the private key of the signer, 2) that key never leaves the phone or other device of the signer, and 3) the signer has been properly enrolled, producing an Identity Quality score that lets the relying party (you) know exactly the degree to which you can trust that identity claim.
Writing for Fair Observer, Timothy Rich & Madelynn Einhorn express concern about the public’s hesitation to support efforts to eliminate misinformation. A lot of these efforts are aimed at forcing social media sites to moderate or remove content from their platforms. Some sections of the public will interpret that as stifling the freedom of speech.
The role of combating deep fakes and misinformation should not be left to the governments and social media companies. Web users need a way to reliably verify whether the image or video they are looking at on their screen is real. They need a way to establish whether the story they are reading was produced by a reliable source of news and information.
Digital Signatures and Real Identities
Deep fakes have immensely contributed to fake news and the spread of misinformation. Deep fakes are being used for character assassination among other unsavory things. Digital signatures can solve all these challenges.
If an image, video, or any other digital file is digitally signed at the source, it is possible to protect its integrity. Digital signatures have to be backed by measurably reliable identity credentials. Web users can trust that not a bit of a file has been changed if it carries a digital signature that is backed by a reliable identity credential. If any bit of the file is altered at any point, the signature ceases to verify its authenticity.
Digital signatures can therefore make a world of difference in the way we consume information online. In particular, digital signatures can help us get rid of fake news. Propagandists and rumor mongers have taken advantage of deep fakes and the freedom from accountability provided by social media. They can distort the truth and spread misinformation as long as it serves their purpose.
Reporters are bearing the brunt of the rampant spread of fake news. As a reporter, you can become a solution to the problem.
Osmio Reporter’s Credential
By becoming an Osmio Credentialed Reporter you can broaden your audience and raise your profile as a source of reliable news. When you digitally sign an image, video, or news story using your Osmio Reporter’s Credential you accept personal responsibility for its authenticity and accuracy. If anyone distorts the file or the story, your signature on the story or file will no longer verify.
Instead of web users becoming skeptical and paranoid about everything on the internet to avoid misinformation, they can just look for verifiable digital signatures.
The Osmio Reporter’s Credential will also help you protect your work. If anyone picks up your story, video, or image and republishes it somewhere else, it will still retain your digital signature. Anyone who comes across your work anywhere on the internet can click on the signature and verify that not one bit of it has been changed since it was originally signed.
As mentioned earlier, digital signatures must be backed by measurably reliable identity certificates. These certificates are owned by real people who claim the identities captured in them. Not only will web users be able to verify that your story or file has not been altered, but they’ll also know you are really who you claim to be and whether you are a reliable source of news. The credibility of your stories will directly impact the reliability of your identity credential.
Visit https://abolishfakenews.com/ to learn more about Osmio Reporter’s Credential and how we can abolish fake news.
The fight against deep fakes and fake news cannot be left to a few companies, institutions, or a group of people. Web users who knowingly spread fake news or produce deep fakes will in most cases use fake identities. The solution starts with making sure everyone is really who they say they are on the internet.