- Danish DR and Norway's NRK temporarily removed a documentary fearing AI could identify anonymous sources.
- Skyggekrigen, a 2023 Nordic co-production, investigates alleged Russian spying in northern Europe.
- Report claims at least 50 Russian civilian vessels may have secretly gathered intelligence and mapped sensitive infrastructure.
- NRK says it anonymised the series securely when first published and is restoring it after DR's precautionary move.
- AI experts warn poor anonymisation lets AI de-anonymize images, audio, and video; complete blurring and full voice alteration required.
Danish public broadcaster DR and Norway’s NRK have removed a documentary on Russian intelligence activities from their streaming services, fearing that AI tools could be used to identify anonymous sources, NRK said Monday.
Originally aired in 2023, the documentary series “Skyggekrigen” (“The Shadow War”) was produced by four Nordic public broadcasters and focuses on potential Russian spying in northern Europe.
In particular, the series claims that at least 50 Russian civilian vessels may have been used to secretly gather information.
The series also looked into ships suspected of having mapped sensitive infrastructure installations for potential acts of sabotage.
“Skyggekrigen is a Nordic co-production. We therefore temporarily unpublished Skyggekrigen when DR informed us they had done so,” Frode Froyland, editor-in-chief of NRK’s documentary show Brennpunkt, told AFP in an email.
The decision was made as a precaution in order to avoid artificial intelligence being used to identify anonymous sources appearing in the documentary series.
“At NRK, we anonymised Skyggekrigen in a completely secure way when it was first published. We are therefore in the process of putting it back online,” Froyland added.
According to Morten Goodwin, a professor of artificial intelligence at the University of Agder, insufficient anonymisation can allow sources to be identified.
“Artificial intelligence has become very good at de-anonymising content, at least in cases where the anonymisation has been poorly done. That applies to images, sound, movements and videos,” he told NRK.
With the advent of AI, media outlets that want to protect a source’s anonymity must ensure that their face and surroundings are blurred “completely, not just partially” and that their voice is totally altered, he stressed.
“If anonymisation is done properly, there is nothing to fear,” he said.
DR did not immediately respond when asked for comment by AFP.
