Originator Profile Charter Containing Basic Principles of Technology Established, To Take Effect on Monday

The Yomiuri Shimbun

7:00 JST, June 28, 2024

The Originator Profile Collaborative Innovation Partnership (OPCIP) on Thursday unveiled a charter outlining the basic principles of Originator Profile (OP), a digital technology that identifies the disseminators of information on the internet.

The OP Charter, which will take effect on Monday, will serve as a foundation for the development of a system to operate the first technology in the world to ensure the authenticity of online content disseminators.

Based on the OP Charter, the OPCIP, chaired by Keio University Prof. Jun Murai, will make detailed plans for operating the system going forward.

The charter, which consists of a preamble and six articles, said about the spread of the internet, “We strongly hope that this will increase individual autonomy and further develop democracy.” Meanwhile, it expressed concern about the dissemination of misinformation and the proliferation of a large amount of information that is difficult to distinguish from the truth with the spread of generative AI.

The charter then positioned OP as “an indicator for judging the authenticity and reliability of information and the entities that transmit it.” By fulfilling its purpose, OP enables us to select and consume information autonomously and independently, thus contributing to the realization of the right to know, it said.

The charter also stipulates items to be observed by OPCIP member companies and specific operational procedures, including responses to problems that may arise.

The drafting of the charter was undertaken by the Drafting Committee, an expert panel of eight scholars in constitutional law and other fields, including University of Tokyo Prof. Joji Shishido, Kyoto University Prof. Masahiro Sogabe and Keio University Prof. Tatsuhiko Yamamoto, co-chairpersons of the organization.

OP technology enables users to confirm the authenticity of information disseminators by embedding an electric identifier in articles and advertisements online. The OPCIP, formed by media and other companies, aims to put the technology into practical use by 2025.

Four new companies join Partnership

The OP Collaborative Innovation Partnership announced on Thursday that Kahoku Shimpo Publishing Co., the Shizuoka Shimbun, the Niigata Nippo Co. and SEARCHLIGHT have joined their organization.

With the addition of these four corporations, the partnership now has 41 participating organizations.

• Names of participating corporations in Japanese syllabary order:
• The Asahi Shimbun
• WebDINO Japan
• Kyodo News
• ADK Marketing Solutions Inc.
• The Ehime Shimbun Co.
• Kahoku Shimpo Publishing Co.
• The Kochi Shimbun
• The Kobe Shimbun
• The Saga Shimbun
• SEARCHLIGHT
• The Sankei Shimbun
• The Sanyo Shimbun
• Jiji Press Ltd.
• The Shizuoka Shimbun
• The Japan Times Ltd.
• Shogakukan Inc.
• SmartNews, Inc.
• The Chugoku Shimbun
• The Chunichi Shimbun
• Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc.
• Dentsu Inc.
• Dentsu Soken Inc.
• The Niigata Nippo Co.
• Nikkei Inc.
• Nippon Television Network Corp.
• Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.
• NHK
• News Corp
• Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Inc.
• Video Research Ltd.
• The Fukushima Minyu Shimbun
• Fuji Television Network, Inc.
• fluct, inc.
• The Hokkaido Shimbun Press
• The Hokkoku Shimbun
• The Mainichi Shimbun
• magaport Inc.
• Miyazaki Nichinichi Shimbun
• Momentum Inc.

Complete text of the Originator Profile Charter

This is a provisional translation of the Originator Profile Charter by The Japan News.

Preamble

The spread of the internet has transformed the information realm. Now, entities other than media, as well as individuals and private companies, can freely disseminate information and participate in matters of public significance. We strongly hope that this will increase individual autonomy and further develop democracy.

But if we go in the wrong direction, this hope will turn to despair. We are now standing at a crossroads. In the information realm, which has been called a force for democratization due to the spread of the internet, many people have emerged who impersonate entities such as news organizations and government offices to disseminate information to mislead people, and who irresponsibly transmit falsehoods and misinformation during elections and disasters, endangering democracy and our lives, and their influence is increasing daily.

In addition, in the “attention economy,” an economic model that relies on people’s interest and attention as a source of income, excessive emphasis is placed on indicators such as the number of views and the number of displays, and information that is created without any responsibility for its truthfulness is often circulated and spread, brazenly appearing right next to information reported by legitimate news media and other organizations.

Furthermore, in recent years, with the development and spread of generative AI, there is a tendency for information that is difficult to distinguish from the truth to be easily generated and spread in large quantities.

Thus it can be said that we are placed in a situation where we consume information in a passive manner subject to unknown outside controls, without being able to rationally recognize and judge the authenticity and reliability of information. This distortion of our perception of the authenticity of information will not only hinder the proactive exercise of our right to know, but will also endanger the lives, bodies and property of individuals, and even democracy itself.

At such a turning point in the information realm, concrete actions are essential to maintain expectations about the potential of the internet and to pass on a healthy information sphere to future generations. As we seek freedom and democracy, we must never allow ourselves to be bystanders in the face of a chaotic information realm where the footsteps of despair are approaching.

Obviously, there are various actions that can be taken to maintain expectations of the internet, but at the very least, we need to be able to authenticate that the information provided is actually from the claimed source and that the content has not been falsified, and it is also necessary to disseminate indicators that enable us to judge the reliability of information rationally. The Originator Profile (OP) was developed with this goal in mind.

In other words, OP is intended to serve as an indicator that enables us to reasonably infer and judge the authenticity and reliability of information, thereby enabling us to select and consume information autonomously and independently, thus contributing to the concrete realization of the right to know.

It is also expected that OP will function as an objective indicator for organizations such as platform operators, advertisers and advertising agencies when evaluating information, thereby promoting efforts by each organization to improve the soundness of the information realm.

We hereby establish this charter as a guarantee that OP will be properly operated in accordance with these principles. We hope that everyone involved in OP will comply with the provisions of this charter, thereby realizing a future of the internet in which individual autonomy is respected and democracy is more vigorously developed.

Article 1: OP’s basic principles

1. OP, through its dissemination, will serve as an indicator for judging the authenticity and reliability of information and the entities that transmit it, thereby encouraging responsible behavior by businesses and others involved in information distribution and contributing to the realization of the right to know for information recipients. In addition, the purpose is to support the construction of a healthy information realm and thereby contribute to the sound development of democracy, the maintenance of individual lives and health and the protection of people’s bodies and property.

2. The term “authenticity” as used in this charter means that the entity transmitting information under a certain distinguished name is indeed the actual entity that bears that name, and that there has been no falsification of the content of the transmission.

3. The term “reliability” as used in this charter means that the relevant information transmission entity, as a responsible transmitter to a democratic society, follows the information dissemination policy it has established based on the basic stance set forth in Article 2, and that it has governance sufficient to realize such policy.

Article 2: Basic guidelines for information dissemination entities using OP

1. Information dissemination entities using OP must develop and publish a policy for information dissemination based on the following items:

i. Respecting fundamental human rights.

ii. Contributing to a just society based on democracy.

iii. Emphasizing truthfulness and promptly correcting misinformation when it becomes clear that it has been disseminated.

iv. Disseminating information with integrity so as not to manipulate or mislead consumers.

v. Ensuring transparency in the use of generative AI.

2. Information dissemination entities that use OP must strive to develop the governance necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the information dissemination policy described in the preceding paragraph, in accordance with the actual conditions of their industry and their type of operations.

3. Media using OP must develop governance based on the fact that they have a great social responsibility for the dissemination and distribution of information.

Article 3: Basic concept of OP operation

In granting IDs to entities that transmit information using OP, the “Originator Profile Collaborative Innovation Partnership” shall examine whether or not it is reasonably demonstrated that this Charter will be complied with, taking into consideration each of the following items:

i. The existence of an information dissemination policy as referred to in Article 2.

ii. The availability of governance in accordance with the actual conditions of their industry and their type of operations.

iii. The nature of the trade association to which an entity belongs (if it is certified, the nature of its certification), or whether the entity is an organization that disseminates information in accordance with the basic principles referred to in Article 1 to the same extent as would a person who belongs to an industry association for which eligibility has been approved.

Article 4: Basic guidelines for OP Collaborative Innovation Partnership

The OP Collaborative Innovation Partnership (including the Ethics Committee referred to in Article 5 and the Charter Committee referred to in Article 6) shall comply with the following items in order to maintain trust in OP:

i. Guarantee of freedom of expression

Do not unreasonably infringe on the freedom of expression of the sender of information. In particular, do not discriminate against information transmitters based on their political beliefs.

ii. Guarantee of the right to know

Protect the freedom of thought of information recipients and ensure that they have the opportunity to select or consume information autonomously and independently.

iii. Ensuring fairness and independence

Maintain independence from government and specific organizations and ensure operational or procedural fairness. In particular, do not allow CIP members and others to operate OP for the purpose of restricting or inhibiting competition in the market.

iv. Transparency and accountability

Ensure transparency and accountability with respect to the operation of OP.

Article 5: Ethics Committee

1. The Ethics Committee is established by the president of the OP Collaborative Innovation Partnership to ensure that OP is operated with high ethical standards. The members of the Ethics Committee shall be appointed by the president from among lawyers, engineers, and others of high character and with a certain amount of insight into the state of the digital society.

2. The Ethics Committee may conduct necessary investigations when a member of the public reports a problem in the dissemination of information using OP, when a member of the Collaborative Innovation Partnership reports a problem or when a problem is reported by a news organization or other entity.

3. The Ethics Committee may, after conducting the necessary investigation, examine whether the information dissemination policy of the entity concerned is being complied with, and in light of the situation, request the president to take any of the following actions against the entity concerned:

i. Opinion

Call for respecting the opinion of the Ethics Committee.

ii. Advisory

A stronger call for specific improvements.

iii. Suspension of ID or refusal to renew

A restriction on the use of OP in the event that the advisory in the preceding item is not followed.

Article 6: Review of the charter

1. This Charter shall be reviewed flexibly as necessary in light of changes in the social environment and advances in digital technology after it comes into effect.

2. If it is necessary to review this charter, the president of the OP Collaborative Innovation Partnership shall convene a Charter Committee after appointing members from among lawyers, engineers and others of high character and with a certain amount of insight into the state of the digital society. The Charter Committee shall develop and submit proposed amendments to the charter to the president. The president will refer the proposed amendments to the board of directors for approval of the charter amendments.