For Immediate Release – Feb. 21, 2024
Pix.T’s Image Verification Tool Launches On Leading European News Organisation, CTK
PARIS – Pix.T, the European digital platform for the future of professional photography, is proud to announce that the solution has been successfully tested on a customer-facing website. The example of images connected to the blockchain-backed Pix.T platform are now visible on the website www.ceskenoviny.cz, the news website of the Czech News Agency, national news agency of the Czech Republic.
This is another step of development in the ongoing Pix.T project, and is a very promising sign of the technical and market viability of the solution to authenticate professional photographic images online in future.
The Pix.T project was first launched in 2019 with a seed grant from the Google GNI program. With the support of the European Education and Culture Executive Agency, it has now reached some progress with samples of the certification system now visible on CTK’s website. This should move the project, and the entire photojournalism sector, closer to our goal for digital integrity and authenticity, after years of development and collective efforts.
In today’s digital age, the proliferation of manipulated and AI-generated content poses a significant challenge to the media industry. With the rise of deepfakes and other deceptive techniques, being able to distinguish real from fake imagery has become increasingly difficult. Creating a “digital paper trail” for images can also help ensure proper remuneration for photojournalists and other professional photographers in the face of the challenging economic reality of the shift to online consumption and markets.
Through the integration of Pix.T’s advanced technology, users can now verify the authenticity of images featured on CTK’s B2C news website with unprecedented ease and precision. Designed with the needs and challenges of photojournalists in mind, Pix.T wishes to reestablish trust between all the players of the media industry, from photographers to their media clients to final readers. With just a simple click, information on the blockchained certified image is now easily accessible.
”We are truly excited to see the full integration of the Pix.T solution live on a national website. Users and clients can now have “locked-in” proof of an image’s authenticity,” said Benjamin Sabah, the CEO of Worldcrunch, and project leader of the Pix.T consortium. “In the future, when others adopt the protocol, that proof will accompany the image wherever it travels online.”
For Petr Mlch, the Editor-in-Chief at CTK Photobank, the solution is very practical for producers of large numbers of images. “Pix.T has a very intuitive and pragmatic approach to the question our whole industry must face about how to certify images online.”
As misinformation continues to pose a significant challenge in the digital age, initiatives like Pix.T underscore the importance of collective innovation in safeguarding true information and preserving trust in digital media. Our consortium members remain committed to driving positive change through technology, ethics and collaboration.
ABOUT PIX.T
Pix.T is a blockchain-backed technology to drive a new digital economy for professional photography and visual storytelling. Bringing together leading technologists with photojournalists, visual creatives, international media and art market leaders, Pix.T aims to maximize the value of photographic work, ensure control and ethical practices for creators and find new market opportunities for the industry.
ABOUT CTK
Czech News Agency is a public corporation established by law. CTK is the biggest newsagency in the country, providing its customers with full multimedia wire service as well as special and individual services. CTK is not subsidized by the state and it is politically and financially independent. CTK´s motto is: speed – reliability – independence.
CTK is the owner of Profimedia, one of the largest photo platforms in Europe delivering pictures from more than 350 sources to markets in Central and Eastern Europe. Solwee Solutions, another CTK’s subsidiary, provides technical solutions to Profimedia as well as several other European photo platforms.
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