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From November 1 through 29, all relevant stakeholders and interested individuals are invited to participate in the public consultation and thus, contribute to the finalisation of IWA 44 – Unique Media Identifier (UMId) for distribution channels and brands.

The main objective of UMId is to promote the integrity of our shared information space by reducing ambiguity – be it on purpose or not – of media outlet’s names, which can compromise the reputation of legitimate news organisations, help to mask and disguise bad actors, confuse or intentionally game algorithmic indexation of search and social media, mislead citizens, regulators, researchers, advertisers – even AI-driven large language models, and eventually erode the integrity of civic discourse overall.

The UMId is designed as an agnostic and non-judgemental, digital key for sources of content, not as a trustworthiness indicator.

It will be fully interoperable with neighbouring, already existing identifiers such as LEI for legal entities or C2PA and DOI for digital objects.

Over the past eight months, the draft IWA has been elaborated by a group of around 80 individuals and entities including regulators, standards bodies, tech companies, civil society actors and subject matter experts. It includes the 16-digit syntax of the identifier itself, prospective use cases, guidance on operational aspects and governance, as well as the overall safety of implementation.

Message by IWA 44 Chairman Jesper Doub:

“Our information space is driven by data, whether we like it or not. Therefore, the taxonomy and structure of datasets is essential for transparency and accountability, for efficiency and innovation, and maybe most importantly for consumer safety. Unique identifiers for media outlets will play a crucial role in this regard and ISO provides a perfect framework to develop and implement them. It is an inclusive and collaborative process, driven by consensus, and therefore I invite everyone who is interested in this topic, or potentially affected by it, to weigh in by participating in this public consultation.”
 

 UMId has been initiated by the Global Media Registry, a German non-profit social enterprise that supports transparency, accountability and pluralism in the digital information space.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) had allocated the IWA 44 secretariat to the German Institute for Standardisation (DIN).

The public consultation opens on 1 November and closes on 29 November 2024.

Submitted comments will be collated, discussed and adopted or rejected by registered members of this ISO workshop.

The disposition of all comments will be made publicly available in an anonymised way.