Topic
Information Integrity
Trustworthy, verifiable and diverse news sources are essential to the function of a democracy. The continued broadening of our digital information space and advancements in AI, however, have expanded the speed and scale of disinformation, creating a need for new verification mechanisms. CNTI’s work delves into the threats of disinformation and explores ways to advance information integrity that safeguard an independent media and public expression.
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Latest
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Journalists & Online Abuse
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Protecting an Open Internet
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Addressing Disinformation
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Focus Group Insights #1: What Defines News, Journalism and Journalists
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Addressing “Awful but Lawful” Content
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Synthetic Media & Deepfakes
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Most “Fake News” Legislation Risks Doing More Harm Than Good Amid a Record Number of Elections in 2024
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Enhancing Algorithmic Transparency
Focus Areas
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Addressing “Awful but Lawful” Content
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How do we address online content that is “awful but lawful”?
We will be creating primers and other materials for each of the 15 issue areas over time. Please sign up to receive the latest updates and releases.
Explore Focus Area Awful but Lawful -
Addressing Disinformation
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How can we ensure that mechanisms to stem disinformation aren’t used to restrict press independence or free speech?
Publishers, platforms and policymakers share a responsibility to respond to growing concerns around disinformation. It is increasingly important to understand and navigate challenging trade-offs between curbing problematic content and protecting independent journalism and fundamental human rights. Efforts to stem misinformation must ensure that governments cannot determine the news that the public receives or serve as arbitrators of truth or intent.
Legislation should articulate high-level goals, understand that initiatives in one country or online context inherently impacts other contexts and delegate enforcement to independent bodies with clear structures for transparency and accountability.
Explore Focus Area Addressing Disinformation -
Algorithms & Quality News
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How can we ensure that algorithms identify and promote fact-based, independent journalism?
Digital platforms subtly guide how we create and discover content. People around the world increasingly rely on digital intermediaries for news and information, and newsrooms must now optimize online content for clicks, shareability and engagement. In this environment, ensuring that algorithmic selection incentivizes high-quality information plays an important role in promoting an informed public, protecting an independent press and enhancing platform credibility. Alongside the need for legal and organizational policy to promote platform transparency, cross-industry collaboration is critical to ensuring that platform algorithms select and prioritize fact-based, independent news content.
Explore Focus Area Algorithms and Quality News
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Enhancing Algorithmic Transparency
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How can public policy enhance algorithmic transparency and accountability while protecting against political or commercial manipulation?
Digital platforms have become central to how people around the world find and share news and information. Currently, each platform operates under its own rules and conventions, including what content is shown and prioritized by algorithmic infrastructures and internal company policies. Establishing legal and organizational policy to promote algorithmic transparency is one critical step toward a structure that allows for more accountability for often-opaque digital platform practices related to content selection and moderation processes. Various stakeholders – including policymakers, researchers, journalists and the public – also often have different purposes and uses for transparency, which need to be thought through to be sure it serves those needs while protecting against the risks of political or commercial manipulation. These considerations also carry through to who is designated to regulate transparency requirements.
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Enhancing News Diversity
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How can public policy enhance an open, innovative environment for a diverse press?
We will be creating primers and other materials for each of the 15 issue areas over time. Please sign up to receive the latest updates and releases.
Explore Focus Area Enhancing News Diversity
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Journalists & Online Abuse
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How can we better protect the press from online harassment and abuse?
Journalists are increasingly facing online abuse, a serious threat that can lead to the mental and physical harm of journalists and undermine the integrity of the information ecosystem and democratic values. While it is unlikely we can eliminate this problem, a multi-faceted approach can significantly mitigate the issue and better protect the press.
Policy deliberation: Creating effective policies requires a balance. While the goal of new legislation is to protect individuals from online harassment, it must also respect fundamental rights like freedom of speech. Journalists should be consulted on cyberbullying and online content moderation policies. Developing and implementing these frameworks is a critical step in providing journalists with stronger laws to defend themselves against abuse.
Professional support: News organizations can play a vital role in preparing journalists to recognize, prevent and respond to online through several means, including psychological support.
Governance: Moderating abusive content carries many complexities due to the high number of actors committing online abuse and the existing protections for freedom of expression in many countries. It will be important for platforms to moderate content without deleting lawful content. Additionally, content reporting mechanisms must be user-friendly, and abusive content must be addressed in a timely manner.
Explore Focus Area Online Abuse -
Open Distribution of News
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What are sustainable models for open distribution and consumption of news and information?
We will be creating primers and other materials for each of the 15 issue areas over time. Please sign up to receive the latest updates and releases.
Explore Focus Area Open Distribution
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Protecting an Open Internet
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How can we discourage the development of ‘splinternets’ and encourage the protection of an open internet?
An open internet infrastructure is critical to functioning, free societies. As governments around the world increasingly turn their attention to issues of internet governance – including via efforts to tackle disinformation and protect user data – the risk of “splintered” internet experiences grows. Policy frameworks should address the distinctions among different forms of fragmentation, the (limited) scenarios in which content fragmentation is justified and how to minimize the impact of fragmentation. Internet regulation that discourages the “splinternet” distributes power outside of the government, protects and promotes individual rights (regarding encrypted and personal data) and open and transparent standards, and accounts for the global nature of the internet – particularly when it comes to the rights of journalists and citizens to communicate and share information within and across borders. Support for independent online media is critical to the protection of an open, globally connected internet.
Explore Focus Area Open Internet -
Synthetic Media & Deepfakes
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How do we protect societies from synthetic media and “deepfakes”?
Deepfakes, a form of synthetic media content that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create realistic depictions of people and events, have proliferated in recent years. There are many questions about how this content affects journalists, fact-based news and mis- and disinformation. In addressing these concerns it is important to consider freedom of expression and safety. Relatedly, policies targeting deepfakes must be clear about what types of content qualify as such.
Detection technologies and provenance approaches are being rapidly developed but it is unlikely they can prevent all potential harms by AI-altered content. Additional research should consider (1) what effects deepfakes have on journalism, (2) how content labeling addresses concerns about deepfakes (and what types are most effective), (3) what international standards should be applied to content to confirm its authenticity and (4) how best to teach the public to identify synthetic media.
Explore Focus Area Synthetic Media and Deepfakes
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Showing 1 – 3 of 11 Posts
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Algorithms & Quality News
How can we ensure that algorithms identify and promote fact-based, independent journalism?
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Open Distribution of News
What are sustainable models for open distribution and consumption of news and information?
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Enhancing News Diversity
How can public policy enhance an open, innovative environment for a diverse press?
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