GFCN chief proposes expert cooperation between CIS states to sniff out transborder fakes

MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/. President of the Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN) Vladimir Tabak proposed establishing direct cooperation between expert teams from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) for streamlining information checks to expose transborder fakes and methodology exchanges.

"The next practical step will be to coordinate direct contacts between national expert teams for on-the-spot exposure of fakes and establish regular methodology exchanges. The GFCN is ready to provide CIS countries with its technological and educational resources in order to establish a direct network of cooperation between experts. Our goal is not to impose ready-to-use solutions but rather give our counterparts tools for safely protecting the sovereignty of their media space," the GFCN chief said, addressing the second Global Digital Forum.

According to Tabak, the common cultural and language context makes former Soviet republics vulnerable to transborder manipulations. These threats include bogus stories about elections, fraudulent deep fakes involving country leaders and fake coverage of migration issues, he explained. So far this year, more than 93 original fakes fueling interethnic tensions have been reported in Russia, he noted.

Tabak said potential fields of cooperation with CIS countries could include the use of the anti-deep fake system Zephyr developed by ANO Dialog Regions, joint site verification and the introduction of educational modules on fact-checking taking the countries’ national features into account.

The demand for fact-checking expertise across the globe has transformed the Network into a global hub that unites more than 130 experts from 55 countries, including Western economies which Tabak said have reported a shortage of applied techniques in fact-checking.

Since news pegs can affect the course of hot conflicts, the international community needs clear rules for regulating media similar to international conventions on the prohibition of cluster munitions of chemical weapons, Tabak argued.