Combatting Fake News! New York Times Engineer Plans to Put "News Images" on Blockchain

The New York Times (referred to as NYT) plans to use Hyperledger Fabric permissioned blockchain to ensure the source of digital documents is correct.

Hyperledger Fabric is a blockchain project primarily focused on providing a platform for distributed ledger solutions. According to a report, the R&D team at NYT plans to collaborate with the technology giant accelerator project IBM Garage to use Hyperledger Fabric to verify news images and sources.

The project lead mentioned that blockchain technology helps in recording news, images, and institution-released related video and audio data. The New Provenance Project is currently in its initial phase, with plans for concept verification from July to the end of the year, aiming to create a verification focused on news photography to demonstrate "how to make such a blockchain-based system scalable and provide a platform that is widely applicable to all publications." He also stated:

Our current progress is exploring blockchain-based records and sharing of media data, particularly images and videos released by news institutions. We will conduct user experience research to ensure we can help users identify the types of signals that indicate authentic media.

In essence, the concept of this mechanism that can distinguish fake news is to create a set of "signals that can be broadcast and spread with any news material" and these signals will be recorded in the blockchain for verification of authenticity. Moreover, it also enables sharing and ensures major media outlets collectively establish and maintain the sources of news.

According to reports, earlier this year NYT posted a blockchain talent recruitment list. The role named "Lead, Blockchain Exploration" is seeking a forward-thinking individual who will help envision and design blockchain-based concepts for news publishers.

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