Combatting Fake News! The New York Times Adopts Blockchain Technology to Provide Solutions for the Chaotic Information Network

The New York Times released details of its latest blockchain project last Friday, which is an online misinformation solution based on blockchain technology. It aims to provide traceability for every news photo circulated on social platforms, thereby correcting and enhancing the trustworthiness of the information network.

New York Times Announces Blockchain Project

Pooja Reddy, a product manager at The New York Times, released an experimental prototype project called "The News Provenance Project" on June 12th, as reported in a publication. This project is a misinformation solution built on the " IBM Blockchain Platform." On the other hand, The New York Times has set up a website for the project, detailing the project's goals and design philosophy, and plans to move from the research phase to the execution phase in 2020.

In the article, Pooja Reddy pointed out that news photos go through many devices, technologies, and personnel from shooting to publication. Each step in the process is to ensure the authenticity and accuracy of the people or events depicted in the photos. However, the authenticity behind the photos can be distorted within minutes as they move from news media to the internet. In Taiwan, "old photos" have long been a common tool for both sides to spread misinformation and smear each other during elections.

Therefore, The New York Times has built a prototype project that uses blockchain technology to create traceability for photos, allowing photos uploaded to social media platforms to view details such as the photographer's name, the events depicted in the photo, the location of the photo, and even all historical records of the photo being referenced. The blockchain network behind the project is expected to be operated by local media, national news, and social media.

Pooja Reddy stated in the article:

"We want to see if it is possible to record everything that has happened to a photo from the time it was taken to now in the form of photo metadata and display that information on social media platforms. Blockchain can separate the complete history of a photo from the image file itself, making it a key technology for us to explore the traceability of photos."

Many Challenges Remain Before Popularization

Although after user testing, The New York Times found that the project can effectively help users identify photos on social media. However, more research and exploration are needed to scale the system. Pooja Reddy said that there is still a long way to go before this technology can be widely used on the internet:

"Although blockchain technology may be a feasible tool to help verify the source of news photos, there are many challenges to be addressed before widespread use."

According to Pooja Reddy in the article, the assumption centered around the prototype will face severe tests in a real-world environment, including the content stored on the blockchain itself and how photos are updated when shared on social media. Furthermore, Pooja Reddy also emphasized that for this system to function properly, news organizations must be able to access the blockchain network and introduce various integration channels with as low a barrier to entry as possible.