Advancing Democracy-Affirming Content Authenticity Tech in Mexico's 2024 Elections

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 largest election year in history. Yet a technological movement to counter these threats is also on the rise. 

Building on recent action from the White House and CISA, 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 in Mexico’s June 2nd presidential elections (press release). 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—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.