By Hany Farid
As an academic who has spent the past 25 years developing techniques to detect photo manipulation, I am used to getting panicked calls from reporters trying to authenticate a breaking story.
This time, the calls, emails, and texts started rolling in on Sunday evening. Catherine, Princess of Wales, has not been seen publicly since Christmas Day. The abdominal surgery she underwent in January led to widespread speculation as to her whereabouts and wellbeing.
Sunday was Mother’s Day in the U.K., and Kensington Palace had released an official photo of her and her three children. The image had been distributed by the Associated Press, Reuters, AFP, and other media outlets. The picture then quickly went viral on social media platforms with tens of millions of views, shares, and comments...
Hany Farid is a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences and the School of Information at UC Berkeley. He specializes in digital forensics.
