How an editor’s note fueled another princess conspiracy theory

When Catherine, Princess of Wales, announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer last month, she appeared to quell rumors that had been circulating about her retirement from public life.

Not for all.

Faced with the rapid spread of misinformation online, sometimes amplified by hostile states, some social media users were predisposed to skepticism.

A note from Getty Images along with the announcement of the video, published on March 22, it states that it “may not adhere” to its editorial policy and fuels further conspiracy theories about the authenticity of the video.

According to investigators, there is no evidence that the video is a deepfakeand agencies regularly attach these types of notes to content provided to them by third parties.

With images that are easy to manipulate, researchers say news outlets are transparent about the source of their content.

Getty says the title is a standard publisher’s note.

The editor’s note, added alongside other details, including that Kensington Palace had handed over the video, was brief:

I unload

“This brochure clip was provided by an external organization and may not adhere to Getty Images editorial policy,” it said.

This disclaimer is not exclusive to this video.

A spokesperson for Getty Images said Wednesday that it adds a “standard editor’s note” to any content provided by third-party organizations.

Other agencies also regularly use these types of notes for clarity.

It was unclear when that policy went into effect and the spokesperson declined to comment further.

Online sleuths, however, noticed that the same note was added to a clip provided by a government agency of the bridge that collapsed last week in Baltimore.

Kensington Palace also didn’t produce the video itself:

A BBC affiliate said in a statement that it filmed the message in Windsor on March 20.

“I don’t see any compelling evidence that this is a deepfake,” said VS Subrahmanian, a computer science professor at Northwestern University who has studied deepfakes.

Test

Subrahmanian ran a copy of the video through a system 15 algorithms that his team developed to detect manipulated videos and also reviewed them manually with another analyst.

Components such as the video’s audio and Kate’s movements appeared natural, and technical evidence suggested they were unlikely to be faked.

“Context is a very important part,” he added.

“The broader context is that it was a video recorded by the BBC, which is a very reliable source.”

Getty’s effort to reach transparency inadvertently fueled the latest theories.

Photo agencies take complaints about manipulated images seriously and have cut ties with photographers who have altered their work.

When it’s difficult to send their own photographers to a scene, agencies can rely on “brochure” content provided by the team involved in a story.

“They are very likely to not take flyers and to have their own photographers where possible,” said Nic Newman, a research associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

News agencies, however, are concerned about how public figures, including politicians and celebrities, are increasingly using it donations to try to “control the narrative,” he said.

The note is an example of agencies’ efforts to be more transparent with clients who use such photos, he said, but there is a risk it could fuel conspiracy theories.

“People often take these labels and then blow them out of proportion.”

News agencies recalled a previous photograph of the building.

Before Catherine, also known as Kate, announced her diagnosis, photo agencies had made headlines when they claimed that a photo of her, circulated around the palace and widely circulated online, had been “manipulated” and urged news organizations to remove it.

The Associated Press, a major outlet that issued a “takedown notice” of the photo, said its staff found changes that did not meet the news agency’s standards.

Kate later apologized for the confusion and said she was experimenting with editing “like many amateur photographers”.

The episode prompted news agencies to review their policies, Newman said, and to reevaluate which sources were reliable.

“The question of whether you can believe what you see is certainly not as clear as it once was.”

“There is a trust deficit in society, at least in the United States,” Subrahmanian said.

“Deepfakes have the potential to widen this trust deficit.”

c.2024 The New York Times Company