Generative AI is blurring the lines between fact and fallacy at a time when transparency and trust in democracy matter more than ever—and during the biggest election year in history, with an unprecedented number of voters globally heading to the polls. Yet a technological movement to counter these threats is also on the rise. 

Building on recent action from the White House and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the German Marshall Fund’s (GMF) Technology Program partnered with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the Obturador photo agency to conduct the first demonstration of content authenticity technologies in an election environment (Mexico’s June 2nd presidential elections). Using “secure signing” technology, CBC and Obturador implemented C2PA credentials—a file’s “nutrition label”, designed to increase transparency about how a photo has been edited or modified. The technology made it possible to provide critical markers of trust in a close presidential race marked by deepfakes and misinformation

The GMF Technology Program will host an online repository of these provenanced images to serve as a reliable archive of verified election content. 

The GMF Technology Program partnered with CBC to include a signed image from the CBC’s coverage of the presidential elections in Mexico. These credentials are accessible via a link in an article on election violence.

GMF also partnered with female-led photojournalism agency Obturador to implement content credentials on its coverage of the June presidential elections that resulted in the victory of president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum. Obturador signed these photos using Microsoft’s “Content Integrity” platform.

Content Credentials in the 2024 Mexican Elections

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Momentum from Mexico: Carrying Content Credentials into the 2024 Global Elections