SUPPORT: Agenda Vestlandet, represented here by Siren Sundland, is supporting Media City Bergen and Project Reynir, represented by Helge O. Svela, with 10 million Norwegian kroner. Photo: Thor Brødreskift.
Agenda Vestlandet has contributed 10 million Norwegian kroner to Project Reynir. The project aims to develop and implement technology that allows media companies to show the provenance of images and other content online, making it easier for people to distinguish between real and fake.
– At Agenda Vestlandet, we want the projects we support to contribute to a better future. Project Reynir hits the mark. If we cannot trust what we see, and agree on some basic facts, then we as a society will have a serious problem in the future, says Siren Sundland, chair of the board at Agenda Vestlandet.
Agenda Vestlandet is a charitable foundation established by Sparebanken Vest on the West Coast of Norway.
– Here, in Western Norway, the media technology industry is strong, and we have great academic institutions and several major news organisations. We are excited to see what comes out of this project, and the results it can create in the long term,” says Sundland.
Project Reynir is based on C2PA technology, which gives newsrooms the chance to demonstrate the provenance and integrity of images and other content. The work helps news consumers understand how audio, video and images have been created and what has happened to them on their way to the user.
The technology is particularly helpful in response to the emergence of generative artificial intelligence, which makes it possible to create large amounts of realistic – but fake – images and videos quickly and inexpensively.
– Generative artificial intelligence means we are facing an onslaught of fake news, and we have never been more vulnerable. Project Reynir provides resilience. We are extremely happy that the money from Agenda Vestlandet allows us to further accelerate this work, says Helge O. Svela, CEO at Media City Bergen, the Norwegian media and media technology cluster.
UNITED AGAINST FAKE NEWS: Faktisk.no, here represented by Morten Langfeldt Dahlback (to the right) is one of the partners in Project Reynir. Pictured with Helge O. Svela. Photo: Gunnbjørg Gunnarsdottir
Project Reynir is part of the international collaboration Project Origin, consisting of BBC, The New York Times, CBC-Radio Canada, IPTC and Microsoft, working to further develop the C2PA technology that forms the basis for the content provenance solution. In Norway, the news organisations Schibsted, NTB, TV 2, NRK and Faktisk are part of the collaboration.
Agenda Vestlandet has previously supported a preliminary project with 2 million Norwegian kroner, and has now given 10 million kroner to the main project. The project lasts until the summer of 2026.
The long-term goal of Project Reynir is for the entire Norwegian media industry to adopt the solution, and the first media technology companies in the media cluster are now working to implement the technology. Svela believes the first Norwegian newsrooms will begin using the solution before the end of the year.
– Disinformation created by artificial intelligence is not just a media problem – it is a democratic problem. Project Reynir is a boost for our digital resilience, and we invite the entire media and media technology industry in Norway to join this important project, says Svela.
He also believes other parts of society should use the technology, and points out that the White House has indicated an interest in using C2PA technology to secure its communication to the public.
According to the World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2024, misinformation and disinformation are the biggest threats in the world in the short term, ranked ahead of extreme weather and war. The emergence of generative AI is a central part of this threat. The new tools allow anyone to create realistic – but fake – images and videos, simply by typing a few words into a website. Neither money nor access to technology is longer an obstacle to creating deep fake videos where state leaders or other public figures are imitated.
Faktisk.no is one of the editorial collaboration partners in the project. Morten Langfeldt Dahlback, leader for innovation and technology at Faktisk.no, is happy to contribute:
– We at Faktisk see Project Reynir as complementary to fact-checking and verification. In addition to exposing misinformation, it's important for society – and for the media industry – that credible content is made visible and traceable. We believe this can make it easier to distinguish between good and bad information, and we will, of course, contribute to that, says Dahlback.
BRINGING THE INDUSTRY TOGETHER: Technology companies, newsrooms, and academia participate in Project Reynir. Here Chris Black of Vizrt speaks during a discussion at Project Reynir's seminar in Bergen last year. Photo: Gunnbjørg Gunnarsdottir
Several leading media technology companies are also partners, such as Cutting Room, Mimir, Wolftech and Vizrt:
– AI can be an incredible tool to enable creativity, but it also requires careful use, says Chris Black, global head of brand and communications and AI evangelist at Vizrt.
– For Vizrt, providing storytellers with the tools to produce more stories, better told, also brings responsibilities to their value. Serving an audience means building trust – and this initiative is about combating the growing threat of misinformation from generated images and videos. Project Reynir takes a critical step in ensuring that trust is sacred, and Vizrt is proud to be a supporter, says Black.
Project Reynir:
- In 2023, Media City Bergen was accepted into Project Origin, a consortium including, among others, BBC, New York Times, and Microsoft. Project Origin is a collaboration between leading media and technology organisations working to strengthen media trust and combat false information.
- Through the project, a technological solution called C2PA has been developed, enabling the public to check the origin of images and other media content themselves. Project Reynir aims to facilitate the use of this technology in Norway, by setting up a collaboration of journalists, academics and media technology companies.
- The project is led and operated by Media City Bergen, also known as the Norwegian Media Cluster.
- Partners in the project include: Media City Bergen, Project Origin, Schibsted, TV2, NRK, Faktisk, NTB, BBC, The New York Times, CBC Radio-Canada, Vizrt, Wolftech, Mimir, Cutting Room, Everviz, Factiverse, Microsoft, NORCE, the University of Bergen, the University of Agder, MediaFutures, TekLab, MBL, Ada Tech Incubator, VilVite Science Center, Startuplab, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, IPTC.