Science updates the global first-contact protocol: verify before announcing, and beware AI deepfakes

The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) has ratified the first major update in more than 15 years to the global protocol for first contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence. The document, backed by over 1,000 scientists across 97 countries, sets out what humanity should do if a real signal is ever detected. (Source: BioBioChile, Rosario3.)

The big difference from the previous version is the world we now live in: the protocol explicitly addresses social media, AI-generated disinformation, deepfakes, and the instant spread of news. (Source: BioBioChile.)

The core rule: any potential detection must undergo rigorous, independent verification BEFORE any public announcement. Nothing is announced until it is confirmed. (Source: BioBioChile.)

The protocol is summarized in eight steps: (1) authenticate and verify the detection is real, ruling out errors or fraud; (2) handle information carefully, with no leaks or sensationalism; (3) communicate precisely and honestly, without speculation; (4) present findings fully and transparently; (5) preserve and share all data with the global scientific community; (6) protect the evidence from loss or alteration; (7) send no reply without international consensus; (8) uphold the highest ethical standards, prioritizing humanity's welfare. (Source: Rosario3.)

On the seventh point: no scientist, institution, or country could reply to space on its own. The decision to answer —and what to say— would have to come from an international deliberation channeled through the United Nations, because it "should rest with all of humanity." (Source: BioBioChile, Rosario3.)

For the first time, the protocol also shields the researchers themselves: it calls for protecting them from online harassment, the exposure of their personal data, and the disinformation campaigns such an announcement would unleash. (Source: BioBioChile.)

Why we're telling you this on Nodriza. Read points 1, 2, and 3 again: verify before announcing, don't speculate, beware AI deepfakes. It is, almost word for word, the principle that holds Nodriza up —"here nothing is invented": every claim cites its source, the disputed is flagged, and AI recreations are marked as such—. Institutional science has just turned into a global protocol what is already the house rule here. (Nodriza analysis.)