The Director of the National Science Foundation, in consultation with other relevant Federal agencies, shall support merit-reviewed and competitively awarded research on manipulated or synthesized content and information authenticity, which may include—

(1) fundamental research on digital forensic tools or other technologies for verifying the authenticity of information and detection of manipulated or synthesized content, including content generated by generative adversarial networks;

(2) fundamental research on technical tools for identifying manipulated or synthesized content, such as watermarking systems for generated media;

(3) social and behavioral research related to manipulated or synthesized content, including human engagement with the content;

(4) research on public understanding and awareness of manipulated and synthesized content, including research on best practices for educating the public to discern authenticity of digital content; and

(5) research awards coordinated with other federal agencies and programs, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency,¹ with coordination enabled by the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program.