Alex Dovbnya
Verizon has debuted a blockchain verification tool for corporate news releases
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Battling fake newsVerizon is no stranger to blockchain
In its Oct. 30 press release, American telecommunications behemoth Verizon has announced a blockchain-powered product that aims to bring transparency and accountability to corporate newsrooms.
Aptly named “Full Transparency,” the new initiative aims to drastically change the way customers interact with news releases.
Battling fake news
While Bitcoin remains the first and biggest use case of blockchain, blockchain has gained traction within many industries because of such qualities as immutability and traceability.
New York-headquartered telecom company Verizon claims that its tool is powered by the Ethereum blockchain.
Verizon now allows tracking a permanent record of all changes made to its news releases—from minor spelling or grammar corrections to statistical updates.
In his statement, Verizon’s chief communications officer Jim Gerace encouraged other organizations to follow suit:
As a technology company that quite literally connects people to information, we are excited to bring Full Transparency to market—a product that, in its own quiet way, can help ensure corporate accountability and trust. We invite organizations across the world that prize transparency as much as we do to adopt blockchain-verified communication practices.
All claims that come from outside sources can be easily verified, which makes it easier to tackle misinformation and confirm necessary details.
Visitors to Verizon’s newsroom, however, will not be able to verify the authenticity of videos, images and infographics.
Verizon is no stranger to blockchain
Verizon has been dabbling in blockchain technology for quite a long time. The $233 bln giant also invested into blockchain startup Filament back in 2017.
In Sept. 2019, it was granted a patent to create blockchain-based virtual SIM cards.
On top of that, it introduced new security services powered by the bleeding edge technology in March of this year.