PwC, UNSW team up to combat content creation fraud

With the world of social media, AI and content creators now bigger than ever, a new framework leveraging financial collateral to uphold accountability, stop misinformation and deepfakes has been created by PwC and the UNSW Business School.

According to the two organisations, the solution was created with the intention of holding content creators accountable for the accuracy of their claims.

This was achieved through the introduction of “veracity bonds”, which would transform content publishing from a “risk-free activity into a financially accountable act” and would require creators to stake money that guaranteed the legitimacy of their content.

It was noted that this would also include a feature that would allow readers to challenge a claim by placing a counter-bond if they suspected inaccuracies, aiming to create a robust environment for truth-seeking.

The research team behind the framework consisted of former PwC senior associate and UNSW honours researcher, Lucas Barbosa, UNSW Business School associate professors Sam Kirshner and Eric Lim, PwC AI partner Rob Kopel and former PwC AI lead Tom Pagram.

Barbosa said the research team published their findings in a paper which demonstrated how financial incentives could align market forces with truth-seeking behaviour.

“The catalyst for the research came from conversations about advances in AI and the futility of trying to spot deepfakes in the future,” he said.

“We realised that detecting deepfakes was a fool’s errand, and that a solution focused on verifying authenticity would be more robust as these GenAI models became more intelligent.”

The motivation to create the framework came from research that identified a “growing crisis” of how deepfake-driven fraud had quadrupled globally in 2024 and cyber crime, including impersonation fraud using deepfake technology, was now the top-reported type of fraud across the world.

In terms of the veracity bonds system, it was set to utilise a closed-loop mechanism where content creators would be required to stake collateral to reflect their confidence in the material.

Lim said this financial commitment deterred unnecessary disputes and ensured all challengers faced an equivalent risk.

“If an inaccuracy is proven, the penalties collected from inaccurate content are used to fund the rewards for accurate assessments,” he said.

“This mechanism is a way for independent content creators to enhance their reputation as the new gold standard for news dissemination, or the traditional news media to rebuild their trust and to build a larger audience on new social media platforms.”

The veracity bonds are expected to create the biggest difference within the insurance industry as they could require claimants to stake collateral on the accuracy of their submissions, therefore deterring false claims.

“The economic model underlying veracity bonds incorporates multiple layers of incentives. Creators of more highly staked content gain visibility, motivating them to provide verified information,” Barbosa said.

“Challengers stand to benefit from fortified bonds through successful disputes, fostering a culture of accountability. The framework is designed to transform the way we interact with information in the digital age, restoring trust and veracity in an increasingly complex information ecosystem.”