Title (eng)
Restoring Trust in the Age of Deepfakes: A Blockchain-Based Proposal
The Global Challenge of AI-Manipulated Media
Description (eng)
The proliferation of AI-generated deepfake media represents a critical global challenge, undermining
public trust across political, financial, and social domains. Recent advances in generative AI, particularly
Google’s VEO3 model, have dramatically escalated the sophistication and accessibility of synthetic media
creation, enabling the generation of photorealistic videos with synchronised audio that are nearly
indistinguishable from authentic content. Existing approaches, primarily focused on deepfake detection,
fall short due to the evolving sophistication of artificial intelligence methods and the emergence of what
researchers term the “liar’s dividend”—the ability for bad actors to dismiss authentic content as
potentially fake. This opinion paper introduces a technically feasible solution: the optional integration of
cryptographic hashing, secure metadata anchoring (including GPS coordinates and device specifications),
and optional digital identity signatures (eIDAS, EUDIS, or decentralised Self-Sovereign Identity
frameworks) directly into media-capturing devices such as smartphones and cameras. These authenticity
markers would be immutably anchored to public blockchain infrastructures—examples include Ethereum
Layer 2 solutions, Solana, and Ardor—creating an incorruptible provenance ledger. The article examines
the multiple advantages of such blockchain-based media authentication, including strengthened content
integrity, clear provenance, rapid verification capabilities, deterrence of misinformation, protection of
intellectual property, and resilience across decentralised platforms. Despite its promise, the
implementation faces challenges related to privacy and anonymity concerns, device integration
complexities, scalability, verification infrastructure, and evolving legal and regulatory landscapes. To
overcome these barriers, parallel initiatives in user and stakeholder education are crucial, emphasising
media literacy, transparency, and global inclusivity. By collaboratively addressing these issues,
blockchain-based media authentication has the potential to significantly mitigate the impact of deepfakes
and rebuild digital trust in society.
Keywords (eng)
Blockchain Media AuthenticationDeepfake DetectionDigital ProvenanceSynthetic MediaContent Integrity VerificationCryptographic TimestampingMedia ForensicsInformation Authenticity
Type (eng)
Language
[eng]
Persistent identifier
Is in series
Title (eng)
MAD Opinions
Date issued
2025-07-30
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