German Marshall Fund Partners with CBC and Obturador to Implement Content Authenticity Tools for Mexican Elections

Washington, DC | May 31, 2024 – The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) today announces the adoption of content authenticity technologies in local and international media coverage of the Mexican elections to be held this weekend.

This initiative marks the first use of these technologies in a global elections context.

The piloting of this technology to combat deep fakes and disinformation will be carried out in collaboration with GMF partners including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Obturador Photo Agency, a local Mexican photojournalist agency, in the leadup to the vote on June 2.

“Content authenticity technologies can play an important role in a trustworthy information ecosystem. The remaining challenge is adoption. To adequately address the problem of uncertainty in the AI era, content authenticity tools must become as common as driver’s licenses,” noted Lindsay Gorman, Managing Director of GMF Technology. “By advancing these tools in their coverage, media organizations can show their work and build trust among viewership.”

In a limited test, CBC News is using Truepic’s verification tool to verify and sign third-party images taken of the election with file metadata and C2PA Content Credentials—providing a tamper-evident certificate of authenticity.

“It’s very tempting in media to take shortcuts, but implementing content authenticity technologies against the challenges posed by AI is just going to make us better at what we do,” said Tessa Sproule, director of metadata and information management at CBC.

Obturador plans to use Microsoft’s new “Content Integrity tools” to add authenticity indicators to images taken of the June 2 elections and their follow-up, including elections and observation processes and the presidential transition period. Obturador photographers are receiving training on Microsoft’s tools to increase transparency into the images captured of the elections processes. The photos will be broadcast to Obturador’s network of over 28,000 weekly viewers and sent to other local media outlets for distribution.

“False information in Mexico has constantly circulated to discredit both the electoral process and the candidates themselves,” said Veronica Robledo, co-director of Obturador.

To boost adoption of these content authenticity tools, GMF convened a training workshop in Mexico City on May 2 with its partners, including 15 organizations representing academic institutions, newsrooms, factcheckers, and technology vendors. Participants learned about the technology and participated in live demonstrations of content authenticity tools.

"Being able to authenticate whether an image was captured by a camera, heavily edited, or generated by AI has become fundamental to transparency online. In a year of global elections, knowing the origin and history of digital content is of paramount importance and it's wonderful to see technologists, civil society, and news organizations exploring content authenticity and integrity tools together," said Maggie Munts, director of public affairs and impact at Truepic.

“It’s better to say ‘this is true’—not ‘what is the truth?’” said Veronica Robledo. “We’re taking the solution before the problem comes upon us!”