Can blockchain save journalism from fake news?

In a time when anyone can post anything, media organizations are turning to blockchain to prove what’s real. Supporters call it a digital notary for news – a tamper-proof record of authorship and edits.

As viral deepfakes spread and headlines are quietly edited, today’s news consumers are finding it harder to know what’s real. According to a recent Reuters report, over half of people worldwide now struggle to tell real from fake online news – a figure up four points since 2022. The worry is especially high in both Africa and the United States, where 73% of people are worried, compared to 46% in Western Europe.

While journalists issue corrections or updates, readers often don’t see them – and platforms rarely offer ways to verify sources at a glance. This gap has fueled demand for more transparent, tamper-proof solutions.

News you can check, not just trust

What if readers could instantly know who created a story – and whether it’s been tampered with? That’s the goal of the Verifiable News Initiative, launched by Blockchain Alliance Europe in partnership with Netis. The Content Transparency Archive helps identify the author and publish text and media in a format that can be instantly authenticated.

“Verifiable credentials do not just help the author prove credibility – they also make it easy for others to check.” Tanja Plankar, President of Blockchain Alliance Europe, told The Crypto Radio.

Plankar explained, “The newsroom or journalist (the issuer) creates the credential when content is published. Another publisher, a reader, or a platform (the verifier) can quickly confirm whether the credential is valid and if the content matches the original version.”

Verifiable credentials are widely used beyond media – for issuing digital diplomas, professional certificates, or driving licenses. “The same idea can help prove where a news story came from, who stands behind it, and whether it has been changed later.”

How blockchain logs edits in real time

Behind every news story, countless small edits shape what readers see – but how can those changes be made visible and trustworthy? That’s where blockchain systems like PUBLISH Protocol come in.

The company, a global technology media firm, is designed as a permission-decentralized system. “Verified participants – newsrooms, journalists, and fact checkers – can run nodes, but governance is decentralized,” Sonny Kwon, the company’s CEO, told The Crypto Radio.

Kwon, who’s also the Founding President of TokenPost, a blockchain media outlet in South Korea, highlighted how it has experimented with article tokenization and edit logging using the PUBLISH Protocol.

“Transparency builds trust, but it must be balanced with usability – so we’re continuously improving interfaces to make blockchain logging seamless for journalists,” he said.

When submitting edits, journalists can “add reasons, sources, or comments each time they update a story,” Plankar noted. “These details are stored as part of the metadata linked to the digital fingerprint.”

Blockchain systems offer transparent edit histories and secure verification, aiming to strengthen trust in published news

Considering journalism is a fast-paced field that requires constant and up-to-date news coverage, Plankar confirmed that “the system is designed so publishing happens as usual, where the issuance of credentials happens in the background without delays.”

“Most blockchain transactions, especially if optimized with Layer 2 or hybrid on/off-chain approaches, can be recorded in seconds,” Kwon agreed. “Editorial processes already take time for fact-checking and approval; blockchain simply adds a secure logging layer, not a bottleneck.”

Fixing mistakes in public

Since any information recorded on a blockchain cannot be altered, “immutability is embraced not to preserve mistakes, but to record the correct process transparently,” Kwon noted.

“If an error is published, the correction is logged as a new transaction that references the original. This promotes accountability rather than hiding or rewriting history.”

Any attempt to forge or backdate edits would also be immediately invalidated by the blockchain network since it is cryptographically secure and consensus verified. “Edits must be signed with a journalist’s private key via a decentralized identifier (DID),” Kwon said.

Still, Plankar emphasized, “No technology alone guarantees good journalism – it also depends on professional standards and ethics.” She underscored that blockchain is a tool, not a substitute, for responsible reporting.

Real-world fights against misinformation

With the fake news challenge growing, initiatives are actively exploring tech solutions across sectors. Netis is using verifiable credentials not just in media but also in education, sustainability, and product transparency.

“The Content Transparency Archive was selected for funding in the SPRIND Challenge in Germany, which recognised it as a promising way to fight misinformation,” Plankar said. 

“In Slovenia, we are also developing a pilot with Časoris, a news outlet focused on children’s journalism and media literacy. Časoris also takes part in European projects that tackle misinformation.”

Such projects raise the question: would readers trust news more if these records were visible?

“That’s something we’ll learn as the pilot progresses,” Plankar said. “We expect that younger audiences, who are already used to digital tools, will be open to it.”

Media literacy projects are exploring how younger audiences engage with tools designed to spot misinformation. Photo: Unsplash / Compare Fibre

Can transparency work on social media?

Plankar believes this approach could also help on social media, where misinformation spreads quickly. “If users could see clear evidence about what is verified or flagged, it might help people understand faster when something isn’t true.” 

Still, she cautioned, "People often create their own 'truth bubbles,' so even transparent information doesn’t always change minds. We live in interesting times where technology and education have to work together.”

Looking ahead, Kwon envisions reputation scores for sources, verifiable citations, or even token-based staking to incentivize credible scoring. Early research, he said, shows that transparency can boost trust. “Knowing that an article’s history and authorship can’t be manipulated gives readers more confidence, especially in an era of deepfakes and misinformation.”