Valid is a software company situated in Berlin, Germany. It builds solutions which make it possible to generate provenance indicators for (news) content. These provenance indicators enable users to check the source and authenticity of the news consumed across platforms. Moreover, the solutions allow consumers to verify whether content is synthetically generated or “real”. As a result, users have the chance to better distinguish between genuine content on the one hand and dis- and misinformation as well as spam on the other hand. Especially, Valid ́s solutions are capable of countering the so-called Doppelganger issue where bad actors including foreign operations pose as established news brands to spread disinformation. 

Moreover, it has been established that the provenance indicators provided by Valid have a signalling function towards recommender systems of online platforms. In consequence, online platforms can utilise these signals to enhance their recommender systems especially in the context of AI SEO hacks and spam. 

Valid provides an effective, scalable and transparent solution to make news content more findable and verifiable. This matches the desire of around half of the EU population who actively check whether the content that they encounter online is trustworthy in fear of consuming AI generated dis- and misinformation (see Unzicker, K., Desinformation: Herausforderung für die Demokratier (2023)). The solutions provided by Valid empower online users to take sovereign decisions in regard to the content they want to consume and is an adequate risk mitigation measure as foreseen by Article 35 of the Digital Services Act. This is particular the case as Valid helps to coherently disseminate news content as enshrined by Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. 

Valid is an active member of the Taskforce of the Strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation (2022). Valid became a Signatory of the Code in May 2023 is proud to have been part of establishing the subgroup `Generative AI ́ and to work on this important matter with other stakeholders. 

Valid engages in the fight on disinformation also by partaking in activities which supplement the work of the Taskforce. In this context, Valid has been conducting legal research on the DSA and the Code of Practice and shared this knowledge on numerous conferences and in journal articles (see Brorsen, H. and Falk, R., Neue Compliance-Pflichten nach dem Digital Services Act, Zeitschrift für IT-Recht und Recht der Digitalisierung (2024), p. 32). Moreover, Valid was part of the ISO international workshop agreement on designing so-called Unique Media Identifiers (IWA 2024:44) and is a member of the Coalition of Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA). 

Valid is proud to be supported by national and regional news organisations in Germany as well as by the German government.