Study: a missing AI label does not establish authenticity

The authors audit Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube. In their sample, only 33% of expert-identified deepfakes in systemic-risk contexts carried a platform label. Controlled uploads with provenance signals received labels in 61% of cases.

The paper has not undergone peer review. These are sample-specific findings. Editorial implication for legal practice: the absence of a label alone does not establish that digital evidence is authentic.