Transparency, Trust, and Security Needs for the Design of Digital News Authentication Tools

Errol Francis II, Ayana Monroe, Emily Sidnam-Mauch, Bernat Ivancsics, Eve Washington, Susan McGregor, Joseph Bonneau, Kelly Caine

Abstract:

Americans’ trust in news is declining, and authenticity and transparency challenges in digital publishing
contexts pose unique challenges to the ability to effectively gratify their information-seeking needs via online
media. Cryptographic technologies and web-based provenance indicators have the potential to enhance the
trustworthiness and transparency of digital communication, but better understandings of news consumers
practices and needs are required to develop practical tools. Through a representative online survey of 400
digital news consumers and 19 follow-up interviews, we investigate how users authenticate and assign trust
to news content, and identify specific needs pertaining to news transparency and authentication that could
be met by digital news authentication tools. While many users currently rely on political ideology to assess
news trustworthiness, we find that users of all political orientations see value in independent provenance and
authentication tools for digital news.