Consumers are responding with scepticism: social media is now the least-trusted source of news globally, with trust falling to just 42 per cent in the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, down four points in a single year.<\/p>\n
In this climate, directors often ask whether the chief executive should step back from the fray or maintain a personal presence to defend corporate credibility.<\/p>\n
Several key data points highlight the evolving risk landscape. Deep-fake fraud attempts increased by 3,000 per cent between 2023 and 2024, and the average incident now costs businesses nearly $500,000.<\/p>\n
One well-publicised Hong Kong case involved an accounts payable clerk transferring US$39 million after a video call with what turned out to be AI-generated avatars of the CFO and colleagues.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, 69 % of consumers say AI-powered fraud is now a bigger personal threat than traditional identity theft, and seven in ten are more sceptical of online content than they were just a year<\/strong> ago.<\/p>\n For CEOs, these statistics translate into three board-level hazards:<\/strong><\/p>\n Left unmanaged, the cumulative reputational drag is material. Analysts at CyberScout estimate fake news already drains US$78 billion<\/strong> from the global economy each year. (<\/p>\n Why a Strategic Presence Still Matters<\/strong><\/p>\n Paradoxically, the same Edelman<\/a> data that damns social media offers CEOs a lifeline: \u201cMy CEO\u201d remains one of the most trusted spokespeople, at 67 %\u201414 points higher than \u201cjournalists\u201d and 20 points higher than \u201cgovernment leaders.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n In other words, stakeholders still look to a visible, accountable leader when authenticity is in short supply<\/span><\/strong>. Retreating from public channels creates an information vacuum that bad actors, competitors or activist investors will gladly fill. Moreover, Wall Street increasingly prices intangible assets\u2014such as brand, purpose, and human capital\u2014into valuations; the CEO\u2019s direct narrative control is part of that premium.<\/span><\/p>\n Regulators and platforms have begun to respond. Meta introduced \u201cAI Info\u201d labels across Facebook, Instagram and Threads in May 2024 and has already tagged hundreds of millions of posts, reels and stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n TikTok\u2019s 2025 Global Elections Hub and expanded fact-checking partnerships aim to curb covert influence operations around key ballots (tiktok.com). Yet, as Meta\u2019s Sir Nick Clegg notes, algorithms amplify what people already want to click<\/strong>; human appetite for sensationalism<\/a> remains the root issue<\/strong>. CEOs, therefore, cannot outsource trust to platform policy\u2014they must actively cultivate it.<\/p>\nRisk to Executive Voice and Brand Equity<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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Platform Counter-measures Are Improving\u2014Slowly<\/strong><\/h5>\n
A Playbook for Responsible Executive Social<\/strong><\/h5>\n