Today, DPCMO is announcing the expansion of its existing collaboration with Microsoft in an effort to uphold sustainability, trust, transparency and authenticity in the Danish news ecosystem. 2024 constitutes the biggest election year in history. At the same time, there are growing concerns that deceptive AI-generated/manipulated content – so-called ‘deepfakes’ – could be used to mislead or deceive voters and other news consumers in the coming years.
A healthy democracy depends on a healthy information ecosystem. That is why the DSM directive introduced a neighbouring right for press publishers – the contribution of publishers in producing press publications needed to be recognised and further encouraged to ensure the sustainability of the publishing industry and thus to guarantee the availability of reliable information to the European citizens and contrast fake news.
For these reasons, DPCMO is expanding its collaboration with Microsoft to explore opportunities to bolster the capacity of Danish publishers and media organisations in an effort to combat the challenge of AI-based manipulation and deceptive deepfakes.. With the aim of leveraging joint expertise and fostering mutual learning, DPCMO and Microsoft will pursue further collaboration across three areas:
- Explore technical measures to enhance media authenticity and provenance. This could include a pilot with a select number of Danish media organisations around utilising content credential
- Foster learning exchanges, training and briefings among Danish and international media and tech experts in order to enhance the ability to leverage new AI tools and prepare for and address deceptive deep fakes.
- Collaborate on activities to enhance public awareness and education with a view to strengthening society’s resilience towards AI-based manipulation.
As part of the collaboration, the parties have decided to extend the temporary licence agreement for six months. This will give time to finalise the long-term EU licence agreement and to explore possible further collaboration.
Karen Rønde, CEO of the DPCMO, said: “Shaping Europe’s digital future is also about ensuring an open, democratic and sustainable society with media pluralism, cultural diversity, informed and empowered citizens. The press and tech have a shared responsibility to ensure this. DPCMO looks forward to exploring the possibilities with Microsoft.”
Noreen Gillespie, Journalism Director, Democracy Forward at Microsoft said: “Healthy democracies depend on healthy information ecosystems, and those do not exist without strong, free media outlets. At a time where concerns around deceptive AI-generated content are growing, the expansion of our collaboration with the DPCMO aims to support Danish publishers in their efforts to uphold trust in news media.”