About TrueMedia at Georgetown

Georgetown University's Massive Data Institute is the new home for TrueMedia,
a public-interest AI project identifying deepfakes, AI-generated content, and false information shared online.

Our Story

How TrueMedia Came to Georgetown

As the information environment grows more complex and technological advances make it easier than ever to manipulate content, knowing what's true online has never been more difficult. Without shared facts, the public's faith in democratic institutions will continue to decline.

Today, Georgetown University is the new home for TrueMedia. Our objective is to provide accessible, transparent tools through our platform that help institutions and the public navigate AI-generated content responsibly.

Origin & Transition

TrueMedia was originally founded by Oren Etzioni as a non-profit, backed by camp.org, to help identify deepfakes during the 2024 election season. In December 2025, as the original nonprofit prepared to sunset, leadership at Georgetown's Massive Data Institute stepped in to preserve and advance the technology and the community of researchers, technologists, civil servants, and policymakers surrounding this mission.

Our Commitment

TrueMedia is nonpartisan. We do not adjudicate political viewpoints. We analyze media authenticity signals.

Hosted By

Georgetown University
Washington, D.C.

Why This Work Matters

The Threat Is Real and Growing

AI-generated and AI-manipulated media are increasingly used in fraud, identity abuse, political manipulation, and financial scams. Government and industry assessments have documented rising risks across sectors.

Everyday people and vulnerable groups face harms including non-consensual synthetic sexual imagery and AI-enabled identity fraud and impersonation scams causing direct financial harm.

Industry leaders from IBM, KPMG, and Microsoft have consistently reported an accelerating wave of AI-enabled cybercrime affecting enterprises across every sector.

‍The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has identified deepfake identity fraud as a growing national security concern. In 2025, bipartisan measures such as the Take It Down Act were enacted to address harms related to non-consensual and synthetic intimate imagery.

The challenge is not partisan; it is structural. As generative models improve, the ability to independently assess digital authenticity and veracity becomes essential for journalists, researchers, public institutions, and everyday users.

The Team

Leadership & Collaborators

Leadership

Lisa Singh

Professor, Computer Science & Public Policy · Georgetown University

Leadership; TrueMedia

Lisa Singh directs the TrueMedia project. Her research focuses on data driven computer science - data mining, data privacy, data science, data ethics.

Sejin Paik

Assistant Research Professor, Massive Data Institute · Georgetown University

Product / Project Manager; TrueMedia

Sejin Paik leads product and applied research at TrueMedia, advancing deepfake detection through a human-centered AI approach that bridges technical and user needs across machine learning, UX, and policy.

Renée DiResta

Associate Research Professor, Massive Data Institute · Georgetown University

Faculty; TrueMedia

Renée DiResta leads data manipulation research and policy.

The Collaborators

Coming soon; we are building our collaborator network.

Contact Us

Interested in partnering with us in various research capacities, or would like to support our mission through donations, funding, or technical resource support?

TrueMedia@georgetown.edu