MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/. Deepfakes have become a "virus of the digital age," making it essential for media organizations to maintain an ongoing dialogue about methods and best practices for detecting and combating them, Marat Abulkhatin, Secretary General of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) and Deputy Director General of TASS, said.

"Deepfakes - the virus of the digital age - deserve special attention: they spread rapidly, are difficult to detect without specialized technology, are constantly evolving to become increasingly convincing, and adapt to modern detection tools," he said at the Dialogue on Fakes 4.0 international forum. "To build a robust system for exchanging reliable information, it is necessary not only to develop our own methodologies and approaches, but also to share them."

Abulkhatin noted that technological advances had created a wide range of tools capable of distorting information and falsifying facts. At the same time, he said, new digital solutions had emerged to help identify information sources and verify data and the origins of content.

Against this backdrop, he highlighted TASS’s extensive network of experts, which he described as a "unique database" built up over the years. It includes press services of ministries, government agencies, universities and regional authorities, as well as medical professionals, scientists, educators, lawyers and economists.

"TASS’s experience shows that countering fakes does not begin with refuting information that has already circulated, but much earlier - with an editorial culture of verifying every single report," Abulkhatin said.

In his view, effective efforts to combat disinformation require combining technological capabilities with the personal "responsibility of each journalist and editorial team for the final decision to publish."

"It is precisely the combination of professional responsibility, multi-level verification, and modern technologies that makes it possible to maintain high-quality information," Abulkhatin concluded.

The Dialogue about Fakes 4.0 forum is a global platform for discussing methods to combat disinformation and develop fact-checking technologies. The event is taking place at the Russia National Center with the participation of over 2,000 journalists, experts and businesspeople from 80 countries. It is organized by the Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN), established in 2025 by the TASS news agency, the autonomous nonprofit organization "Dialogue Regions," and the New Media Workshop. TASS is the forum’s strategic media partner.