Workshop Proceedings of the 16th International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media

Workshop: Workshop on News Media and Computational Journalism (MEDIATE)

DOI: 10.36190/2022.55

Published: 2022-06-01
Usable Cryptographic Provenance: A Proactive Complement to Fact-Checking for Mitigating Misinformation
Emily Sidnam-Mauch, Bernat Ivancsics, Ayana Monroe, Eve Washington, Errol Francis II, Kelly Caine, Joseph Bonneau and Susan E. McGregor

This paper describes how cryptographic provenance can serve as a proactive, partial solution for mitigating misinformation. Drawing on literature from human-centered computing and usable security, journalism, and cryptography, we discuss the advantages and limitations of both content-based and technical approaches to the problem of online misinformation. We argue cryptographic provenance systems designed for usability can reduce the spread of misinformation by surfacing provenance information and making this information salient and acceptable to information consumers. We highlight challenges and open research areas related to designing usable cryptographic provenance systems, specifically concerning two key stakeholder groups: journalists and news consumers.