Adobe, The New York Times Company and Twitter announce Content Authenticity Initiative to combat misinformation

(4 Nov 2019) At Adobe MAX, Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the Content Authenticity Initiative, along with The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), aimed at developing an industry standard for digital content attribution.

The ability to provide proper content attribution for creators and publishers is critical to ensure trust and transparency online. Adobe, The New York Times Company and Twitter believe that creating a long-term solution is a shared responsibility among creators, technology, and media companies, and that joining forces will accelerate progress.

“With the proliferation of digital content, people want to know the content they’re seeing is authentic,” said Dana Rao, executive vice president and general counsel, Adobe. “While this is a formidable challenge, we are thrilled to be championing the adoption of an industry-wide content attribution system, along with The New York Times Company and Twitter. It is critical for technology and media companies to come together now in order to empower consumers to better evaluate and understand content online.”

Adobe is developing an opt-in system that will allow creators and publishers to securely attach attribution data to content they choose to share. The framework is designed to let authors verify their content so that they receive proper attribution and provide consumers with an attribution trail to give them greater confidence about the authenticity of the content they’re consuming. Adobe demonstrated a prototype of its content attribution technology embedded in Photoshop at Adobe MAX, the world’s largest creativity conference.

“Discerning trusted news on the internet is one of the biggest challenges news consumers face today,” said Marc Lavallee, head of Research & Development, The New York Times Company. “Combating misinformation will require the entire ecosystem— creators, publishers and platforms—to work together. This initiative lays the groundwork for doing that through open standards and protocols.”

“Serving and enhancing global public conversation is our core mission at Twitter,” said Del Harvey, vice president, Global Trust and Safety, Twitter. “We’re excited to work with Adobe and The New York Times Company to find new and innovative ways to support our existing efforts. Everyone has a role to play in information quality and media literacy. Collaboration on issues as complex as this is key—we welcome the partnership.”