News Industry Launches “FACTS โIN : FACTS OUT” โขcampaign to Combat AIโข Distortion โฃof News
Geneva, โขSwitzerland – A global coalition of news โorganizations today launched “FACTSโ IN : FACTS OUT,” a campaign aimed at ensuring the integrityโ of news content as โฃArtificial Intelligence (AI) platforms become increasingly central to how people access information. The initiative stems from a recent BBC/EBU report,โฃ “News Integrity in AI Assistants – An International PSM โขStudy,” which revealed that AI โขtoolsโ consistently โalter, misattribute,โ or strip contextโฃ fromโค trusted news sources, regardless of location, language, or platform.
The campaignโ calls โon AI companies to prioritize โaccuracy and โtransparency, arguing that while AI holdsโ immense โpotential, it is currentlyโข an unreliable โคsource of news. “If โฃAI assistants ingest facts published by trustedโข newsโ providers, then facts must โcome out at the other end,” stated โVincentโค peyregne, CEO of ONE-IFRA.
The core concern is the growing reliance on AI โplatforms as gateways to news. Distorted information and obscured sourcing erode public trust, a cornerstone of aโค functioning democracy. “Forโฃ all itsโ power and โฃpotential, AI is not yet a reliable source of news and information -โข but the AI industry is not making that a priority,”โ added Liz Corbin, EBU โขDirector โof News.
“If enough organisations โendorse FACTS IN :โ FACTS OUT, โคwe hope the AI companies โฃwill โaddress the problem urgently,” Corbin continued. “But this is not about finger-pointing; โwe areโ inviting the tech companies to engage in a meaningful dialog with us.The public rightly demands access to quality and trustworthy โjournalism, no โขmatter what technologyโฃ they use, so it’s clear we need to โขwork together.”
The campaignโค outlines five keyโฃ principlesโฃ for AI developers to uphold:
- No consent – noโ content: AI โฃtools should only โutilize news content โคwith explicit permission โfromโฃ the originating publisher.
- Fair recognition: The valueโ of trusted news contentโ must be acknowledged when usedโ by โฃAI.
- Accuracy, attribution, provenance: AI-generated content must clearly display and allow verification of โits original source.
- pluralityโฃ andโ diversity: AI systems should reflect the breadthโข of โtheโ global news landscape.
- Transparency and dialogue: technology companies must openly collaborate with media organizations to establish shared standards forโ safety, accuracy, and transparency.
Newsโ organizations are invited to support theโ initiative โฃby endorsing the five principlesโ (contact info@newsintegrity.org and submittingโค their logo), visiting www.newsintegrity.org for โresources, sharing theโข BBC/EBU โreport, engaging with regulators and technology โฃpartners, and โขutilizing the hashtag #FactsInFactsOut on social media. โค
FACTS IN : FACTS OUT is a component of the broader News Integrity inโ the Age of AI initiative, aimingโ to safeguardโฃ the future of trustworthy journalism โin a rapidly evolving technological landscape. โขMore information can โคbeโ found at newsintegrity.org.