How C2PA and Blockchain Verify Election News and Combat Misinformation

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Introduction

With an unprecedented number of voters participating in elections, 2024 stands as one of the largest election years in history. It’s also the first election to widely adopt AI, raising concerns about misinformation. Generative AI can significantly influence voters by generating content that looks real but may be false. This challenge has prompted Numbers Protocol, in collaboration with Starling Lab and news outlets, to tackle the issue of election media authenticity with its blockchain-based data provenance solution.

Taiwan 2024 election leverages established provenance standards such as the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) and Numbers Protocol blockchain-based provenance solution to create accessible transparent media. As a digital media library, Numbers Protocol indexes all archived election media with a unique id (Nid) that can be called upon to access digital media files on decentralized storage and most importantly provenance records archived on-chain. From untraceable and unverifiable entities to standalone assets capable of “speaking for themselves” through accessible and traceable records, Numbers on-chain provenance records fundamentally change how media is viewed and allows viewers and voters to make informed decisions based on facts.

The success of the Taiwan 2024 election project has led to similar initiatives for Indonesian and Indian elections. Let us dive into the topic further!

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How Blockchain Enhances Election Media Provenance and Integrity

Existing metadata standards like IPTC and C2PA are invaluable for establishing the provenance of digital media. However, blockchain registration adds an extra layer of security, ensuring that content history records are immutable and transparent. Once a transaction is written to the blockchain, it cannot be altered or deleted, guaranteeing the permanent accessibility of records.

Blockchain technology plays a pivotal role in the Taiwan 2024 election project. By registering media files on the blockchain, the project ensures that the provenance and history of each piece of content are verifiable and preserved over time. This immutability provides a robust safeguard against attempts to manipulate or falsify election news.

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Capture Tools for Securing Election Media with Blockchain

The Taiwan 2024 election project uses several tools to facilitate the adoption of provenance standards:

Capture Cam : Available on the App Store and Google Play, this mobile tool allows users to take photos with assured integrity. The ease of access to this tool greatly enhances civic participation in the project.
Capture Dashboard : This platform enables content owners to manage content and its metadata seamlessly. Journalists and photographers involved in the project can easily manage the content they capture and embed a provenance layer to it.
Capture Eye : A simple widget that allows users to check and verify image origin with just one click.
Asset Profile & Verification site : These tools help users determine whether an image is AI-generated or if it has been tampered with.

The election project starts with partner journalists and news media gathering photos during the election. Media files and their provenance metadata are then uploaded via the Capture Dashboard or SDK (Capture Cam for civic participation). This process generates a decentralized content identifier (NID), and a smart contract commits this data to the blockchain, ensuring its immutability.

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How to Verify Election Media with C2PA and Numbers Verify Engine

Next, the verification pipeline comes into play. The C2PA Verify site allows users to upload content for verification albeit without the blockchain functionality. This poses several challenges because C2PA labels can be easily removed from the content. To address this challenge, it is recommended to use the Numbers Verify Engine in combination with C2PA. The AI within the engine compares the uploaded content against existing images, ensuring the content's uniqueness and legitimacy. This step is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the media files.

For each piece of content uploaded with Capture, an Asset Profile is created. The Asset Profile page displays comprehensive information, including creator details, creation time and location, and a direct link to the blockchain transaction.

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Preserving Election Media on Filecoin and Blockchain

Finally, all the content is archived on the Filecoin network, ensuring the long-term preservation and integrity of the content, providing a secure and reliable archive for future reference. In addition to the Filecoin network, the project also uses a customized instance of the Uwazi asset management system with an Authenticated Attributes backend, developed by Starling Lab, to prototype collaborative journalism investigations.

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How Civic Participation and Capture Eye Widgets Enhance Election Transparency

A unique aspect of the election project is its embrace of civic engagement. The Capture Cam enables the general public to contribute verified media easily with their mobile phones. Users can capture and upload media, which is then registered on the blockchain, maintaining the content's authenticity and integrity. This democratization of media creation ensures a transparent democratic process.

Users can easily check the election archive in the following page :

Each piece of content on the site features an information widget called Capture Eye. The Capture Eye can be easily installed on any website, allowing users to verify provenance information. This widget enhances content authenticity by displaying on-chain information and supporting advanced features like direct license NFT purchases.

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How Blockchain and C2PA Create Trustworthy Digital Election Media

The Taiwan 2024 election project marks a significant step towards a future where the provenance and integrity of digital content are highly valued. With a plethora of impactful elections on the horizon (United States, Canada, Germany), the need for trustworthy information is at an all time high. To illustrate, following the attempted assassination of U.S. Presidential Candidate Donald Trump in July 2024, we observed an increase in fake news, speculations, and even conspiracy theories in just a matter of days.

By leveraging blockchain and decentralized storage technologies, the election project combats misinformation, including deepfakes, and enables news outlets and journalists to emphasize their brand values. This initiative showcases a global trend, with similar technologies being adopted in elections worldwide, underscoring the importance of protecting electoral integrity and digital information.

With C2PA and blockchain technologies, alongside ethical AI practices, we can create a future where digital content is verifiable, trustworthy, and secure. Let's work together to ensure that the information we rely on during elections—and beyond—remains a true reflection of reality.

Numbers Protocol is revolutionizing digital content verification with blockchain technology and C2PA integration. Explore how we help secure digital media, empower content creators, and combat misinformation. Contact us for more information on how Numbers Protocol can enhance your platform’s content integrity.

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Feeling adventurous? Try Capture today: https://link.numbersprotocol.io/dashboard-blog

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