Identifying 3 directions of crisis of confidence in the digital space
On the morning of September 7, the 2nd National KOL Conference - KOL Summit 2026 took place in Ho Chi Minh City. In his introductory speech on the topic "AI, misinformation and crisis of trust", Mr. Nguyen Tat Hong Duong - Deputy Chief of Office of the National Cyber Security Association, Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam Cyber Security Electronic Magazine emphasized that the crisis of trust in the digital space is manifesting in three directions.
That is, trust is threatened, the mechanism for establishing trust is weakened, and the consequences of loss of trust are likely to spread throughout society. In the digital space, what is threatened is no longer just the accuracy of a few pieces of information, but people's trust in what they see, hear, and receive every day.
Mechanisms that helped people establish trust are gradually losing their effectiveness. Faces, voices, and images were once important bases for verifying identity and events. But with AI and deepfake, faces can be faked, voices can be faked, and images and videos can also be faked. The problem is not just that technology creates more false information.
More seriously, technology is directly impacting the very signs that humans used to establish the truth. As false information becomes increasingly similar to the truth, people begin to have reason to doubt even things that are already true.
In particular, false information, when algorithmically delivered to millions of people in a very short time, can affect personal honor, business operations, the market and even social awareness.
Challenges and roles of KOL, KOC
Mr. Hong Duong emphasized the paradox that the cost and time to create false information are approaching 0, while the cost and time to verify and establish the truth are increasing. “Therefore, the biggest challenge of the AI era is not only how to identify false information, but how to build a new trust mechanism when evidence that people once trusted can also be forged,” the Deputy Chief of Office of the National Cyber Security Association shared.
From these things, Mr. Hong Duong pointed out three challenges that experts and speakers attending dialogue session 1 such as content creator Hai Trieu, Mr. Nguyen Lam Thanh - General Director of TikTok Vietnam or Ms. Pamela Chua, Director of the Fraud Prevention Center, Mastercard... will clarify.
First is speed, how to make the truth not lose in the race with the speed of creating and spreading false information. Besides, there is evidence, when eyes see, ears hear, images, voices and videos can all be faked, what do we rely on to establish the truth?
The most important thing is trust and value, when the traditional bases for distinguishing between truth and falsehood are being shaken, where and who will society place its trust in?
With these challenges, according to Mr. Duong, the role of influential people - KOL, KOC becomes particularly important. If the press creates verified information sources, functional agencies provide official information sources, technology provides authentication tools, then influential people have a special ability: bringing the truth into each community with their own language, prestige and spreading power.
That is also one of the goals that the Digital Belief Alliance aims for: Connecting influential people, to become reliable supports in a network of verification, warning and protection of the truth.
