GAMAC emblem GAMAC Global Alliance for Media Authentication and Cooperation
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GAMAC Adopts Founding Charter and Opens Global Call for Founding Members

Multi-stakeholder media-authenticity alliance moves from UN-recorded proposal to governed, operational infrastructure

International Communication Organization — September 2026

The Global Alliance for Media Authentication and Cooperation (GAMAC) has published its founding Charter and Operating Rules, establishing the governance framework under which media organizations, cultural entities and technical communities will jointly operate a global verification infrastructure for journalism in the age of synthetic media. With the framework in place and its public portal live at gamacalliance.org, the Alliance is now formally inviting founding members worldwide. Membership is free of charge.

GAMAC was initiated by the International Communication Organization (ICO), a United States-registered non-governmental organization, which serves as the Alliance's interim secretariat. The Alliance's underlying concept was set out in ICO's written submission to the United Nations Global Dialogue on AI Governance, publicly listed on the UN website under Respondent ID 988 (Civil Society / Global).

A commons, not a platform

At the centre of GAMAC is the ICOPC credential (International Certified Online-journalist Professional Credential), a "phygital" credential combining an NFC-encrypted chip with a distributed ledger. Any third party can verify a credential's status in real time through the public registry at gamacalliance.org/verify.

The Charter is built on the principle that authentication infrastructure must not be controlled by any single company, government or algorithm:

  • Distributed authority — issuance standards and revocation are governed collectively; no single member, including ICO, holds a veto.
  • Radical transparency — the public registry, governance rules and audit findings are open to inspection.
  • Interoperability by design — the credential is designed to inter-operate with open content-provenance standards across borders.
  • Privacy by default — only professional identity data is published; personal data is kept minimal.

How the Alliance is governed

Under the Charter, membership is organized into four categories: Voting Members (media organizations holding one vote each), Cultural Entities and Technical Community Members (both with defined limited voting rights), and Individual Affiliates (non-voting). The General Assembly is the supreme governing body; Voting Members each hold one vote. During the founding phase, an Interim Steering Committee — with ICO's transitional Chair holding no veto power — administers admissions until the first elected Permanent Steering Committee takes office, triggered by the admission of the tenth Voting Member or 31 December 2027 at the latest. The permanent committee will require at least 40% representation from Global South countries and at least 40% women.

The Charter also fixes a permanent principle: membership is and will remain free of charge.

A 2026 commitment to the Global South

GAMAC is carrying forward the capacity-building commitment recorded in the UN-listed submission: transferring media-authentication and credential-verification capability to more than 500 media organizations in the Global South by the end of 2026. A public progress view is maintained on the Alliance website, alongside a deliberately honest members page — the Alliance lists no organization that has not formally enrolled.

"We have moved from a written proposal to governed infrastructure," said Chen Xuegang, Executive Chairman of ICO. "The Charter ensures that what ICO initiated cannot become what ICO controls. The invitation now goes out — especially to newsrooms and journalist associations in Africa, Asia and Latin America — to build this root of trust with us, as equals and at no cost."

Media organizations, cultural and educational institutions, open-source developers, security researchers and standards bodies may review the Charter and apply for founding membership at:

https://gamacalliance.org

— ENDS —

Media enquiries: info@icoun.org

GAMAC — Global Alliance for Media Authentication and Cooperation. A decentralized, multi-stakeholder alliance anchoring a root of trust for media authenticity.

Editorial notes

  • The Charter (v1.0) and Operating Rules (v1.0) are published at gamacalliance.org/governance.
  • The ICO written submission to the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance is publicly listed at un.org under Respondent ID 988. Public listing does not constitute United Nations endorsement, approval or adoption.
  • Three SAMPLE/DEMO-only demonstration credentials are available in the public verification service; no individual journalists are yet enrolled.