Real Teenagers, Fake Nudes: The Rise of Deepfakes in American Schools

from The New York Times I'm Sabrina. tavernes and this is the. [Music]. daily a disturbing new problem is. sweeping American schools students are. using artificial intelligence to create. sexually explicit images of their. classmates and then share them without. them even. [Music]. knowing today my colleague Natasha.

singer on the rise of deep fake nudes. and one girl's fight to stop. [Music]. [Applause]. [Music]. them it's Friday June. [Music]. 7th so Natasha for the past year you've. been reporting on artificial.

intelligence in American schools and. your most recent reporting has uncovered. a pretty new and very disturbing Trend. involving AI tell me what you've been. finding it's been a really striking year. on my beat because we're seeing kind of. a rapidly spreading new form of peer. sexual exploitation and harassment in. schools which is called Deep fake. nudes and what that means is that we're. seeing middle and high school boys.

across the United States using these. widely available notification apps to. allow people to ctitious take clothed. photos of girls and women and without. their knowledge or consent use these. apps to remove their clothes and so it. looks like a simulated nude of a ninth. grader who you know has posed for a. photo at say a high school football game. or her High School prom in a dress. except when these boys use these apps it.

looks like the girls have posed for. these nude photos at these events right. and the thing is that boys have been. sexually harassing girls online for. decades including using Photoshop to. make fake nude pictures but the. difference here is that generative AI is. an exponentially more powerful tool it. makes it look realistic but second of. all it enables the mass production of. these kind of fake nude images of teen. girls very very very quickly interesting.

and one expert I interviewed pointed out. to me that one boy with his phone in the. course of an afternoon can victimize 40. girls and then the images are out there. right right and so the possibility of. harming many girls instantly and. permanently is what is the concern here. okay so this is a very disturbing and. very new problem where did your. reporting to understand this problem.

start so one recent afternoon Sydney. Harper a producer at the daily and I. travel to Westfield New. Jersey do you want to tell us a little. bit about what we're looking at what. we're. seeing we are driving through downtown. Westfield which is a small affluent. community of a few thousand people it's. this idyllic tiny suburb outside of. Newark very manicured loans very. manicured definitely landscapers.

employed with manicured Lawns and Lush. dogwood trees in full bloom so here we. are at the manise and then we went to. see Franchesca Manny and her mom. D. mommy oh my God I told you guys are. coming at 4: you said 3:30 did I come in. give me 3 seconds dto was surprised to. see us at first because she'd been. expecting us a little later in the day. hi Franchesca hi hi it was like a half.

hour after school was over and. Franchesca was in the back you know. suntanning outside with a. dog Sydney nice to meet and after we. said our hos we sat in the living room. and Franchesca started to tell us more. about herself okay so I'm Franchesca. Manny I'm 15 years old and I'm a. sophomore at Westfield High School. Franchesca is a typical teen in many. ways I love playing sports my main sport. is fencing I love hanging out she plays.

Sports she is training in fencing she's. really gregarious and she's really. confident what was your first inkling. that something had happened that had to. do with the girls in your class well. Franchesca began to tell us what. happened to her at school last October. so I found out that like there was a. group of kids in my school and they were. taking like girls faces pictures of. girls faces and putting them on like AI.

generated like pictures and it was like. not rumors but it was like word to mouth. it was like you know like the game. telephone was like going around yeah she. found out that boys in her class had. created these AI generated fake nude. images of some of the girls in her class. it was in history class it was second. period And I was just sitting down and. then I came back from the bathroom and. like the girls were talking about it I. was like hey what's going on and then. people were like talking about it and I. was like oh we were all super surprised.

the girls hadn't seen the images they. had heard about them from boys who had. seen them and who knew who was in them. Franchesca said the girls made a. Snapchat group to discuss what they. should do and then they decided that. some girls needed to go down to the. principal's office and notify. administrators about these deep fake. nude images and what did you tell the. principal we're like there's these group. of kids taking pictures of gross faces. and putting them on AI generated bodies. and we were just worried and we didn't. know if it was like one of us so we just.

went down like even for the sake of the. other girls we just went down to like. tell the principal so the school isn't. even aware these images exist until. Franchesca and her friends notify. administrators that's right so then. Franchesca goes back to class and goes. about her school day like the day went. on but a lot of girls were worried a lot. of girls were like crying and you know I. didn't really think it was going to be. me so I was I was I was doing my own. thing I was going to my classes um there. was a lot of like counseling or. something but I need to stay on my work.

and at this point Franchesca isn't. thinking that any of this is going to. affect her directly But as time goes on. she begins to hear something troubling. it was during fourth period I was going. to go print something out with one of my. friends and I see one of my other. friends and I was talking to them and. they said that they think there's one of. me so she heard that she might be one of. the students who had these deep fake new. photos made of her so as she's worried.

about this the school begins to announce. the names of girls in her class over the. loudspeaker and ask them to come down to. the office and I hear my name over the. intercom telling me that I have to go. down to principal's office and at at. that moment I I knew it it was one of me. cuz I think all of the girls were. getting called down from the intercom so. um I went down and then um the principal.

told me I was one of the victims and. then that's how I found out and how did. you feel about that so basically in the. beginning I I felt shocked cuz I didn't. think it could happen to me and that's. the funny part because could happened to. anyone I'm kind of sad too cuz it's like. surprising cuz I didn't think my. classmates could do this to me. Franchesca is upset and also feeling. like there's a double standard like the. girls are not being treated by the. school with the same sensitivity and.

privacy as the boys who allegedly made. these fake nudes what I found weird is. that they announced like the the victims. over the intercom while the the boards. that were getting investigated for it. were like pulled out of class privately. so no one could know who it was but we. girls had to get you know called over. the intercom which I think is like like. kind of violating our privacy who who. heard that announcement everyone cuz. it's the classes finished and you.

usually people like speak over the. intercom so everyone heard it while they. were in the hallway yeah and as she. walks out of the principal's office so. I'm walking down the hallway to my math. class and I see these group of boys. laughing at these group of girls crying. about the situation and I'm just like. are you kidding me the first thing she. sees is a group of girls standing. together crying and a group of boys. laughing at them so that's when like I. started like boiling I was super mad and. like I just thought it was not fair.

because it's a serious thing like why. are you laughing at it and what did it. make you want to do when you were mad. well I wanted it to stop because girls. shouldn't be like laughed at because of. something that had happened to them and. especially by like you know a guy like I. really don't think it that's fair you. know it is a pivotal moment for. Franchesca she sees the girls crying and.

she talks about how she was just pissed. off and she wanted to do something about. it and she says to her mom how are you. going to help me do something about this. and I was like Mom this is what happened. at school um we need to do something. because I'm super mad this happened to. me and to other girls and I think we. could do something to fix it and what. does Francesca's mom do when she hears. what happened to her daughter and her. friends well the first thing her mom.

doota sets out to do is find out what. consequences there will be for the boys. who did this one of the vice principles. call me and informs me that yes there. has been a. situation where boys created new images. but uh you know the boy has been. suspended so I asked the legitimate. question of for how long Dera says she. learned from the school that it's. primarily one boy who is made and. circulated these images and that he will.

be suspended for just one day you know. there was no consternation there was no. you know we thinking about it we're. still investigating we're going to. decide that for now he has been. suspended and doas had several. conversations with administrators about. what has happened and what they're doing. and she is beginning to feel that. they're not taking it seriously and. they're not doing enough she's like but. don't worry he is gone and I'm sitting. there and I'm saying go where Gilligan's.

Island he's going to be back on. Wednesday again you know I'm composed at. this point I said well he's back on. Wednesday isn't he do you think as a. mother as a woman do you think this is. the right approach she says well you. know this is what it is uh uh you know. this is what we have. decided and I said well then I want to. inform you that I'm not going to let it. go and the comination of the idea that a. the school has announced the names of. the girls over the loudspeaker further. humiliating them and violating their.

privacy a b the boy who has instigated. this has been suspended for one day and. maybe is taking another day off and then. he will go back to school with the girls. he did this to these things in. combination make doota feel that the. school is not doing enough to protect. the girls and is not going to do enough. to punish the boys that and that's how. the whole ordeal started it completely. activates.

her and so one of the first things she. does is D writes a letter to the local. online kind of Village News website and. she explains what happened to Franchesca. and she says something. like am I the only one who thinks that. the school's response is inadequate and. she puts her phone number on this letter. to the editor of the local Westfield. publication calling I think more than. 300 people contacted me it was like a.

hotline older women to young mothers to. parents uh of Westfield High School. students two counselors uh some teachers. so we all connected together through. that she hears from the parents of other. girls she hears from the parents of. girls who have been subject to other. kinds of sexual harassment in schools. she hears from local politicians and she. decides that she's going to hold a town. meeting about this in her own living. roomp wow put armchairs and and chairs. and and you know it was a full room of.

of beautiful people that came to support. us and and so she has this meeting and. dozens of folks come including the mayor. and other parents and local legislators. and they talk about what needs to be. done and then we need to put code of. conduct AI policies and bullying. policies in place and there should be. just one approach right if you've done. the wrong thing you've done the wrong. thing it's as simple as that and what. comes out of that meeting meeting is.

dorota and Franchesca decide they want. to push school districts Nationwide to. update their policies to better protect. girls from Deep fakes and prevent this. from happening. again so how does the school respond to. all of this so when I reached out to the. Westfield Public School District they. said they had opened an immediate. investigation into the incident and. consulted with police but that couldn't. comment on the specifics of the case or.

talk about any disciplinary actions. against the boys for privacy reasons. because the students were under 18 and. when I asked them earlier this week. whether they changed any of their. policies to address AI abuse the. district declined to comment so Natasha. the story of the manise I mean it really. shows how unprepared schools can be it. seems like the school was completely. blindsided by this and really fumbled it. but I guess in the school defense this.

is all really new right I think that's. an important point this is brand new AI. technology and maybe School. administrators principes superintendents. didn't even know that deep fake nudes. existed or that there are apps you can. use specifically to nudify photos of. women right so you could say they. weren't prepared for this kind of. technological abuse and I spoke to. parents in a number of districts and I. reached out to schools in a number of.

states and mostly the way that Westfield. High handled this is typical the typical. response was there will be minimal. discipline for the guy or guys who did. this and you know girls um this is just. a fact of life or like girls yeah this. is really bad but it will pass and there. did not seem to be understanding in many. districts that actually this could be.

devastating for mental health and also. that it could have long-term. consequences for these. girls I guess the thing that's bothering. me is it seems pretty clear that what. these boys are doing is. wrong but is it illegal I mean are they. breaking the law when they're doing this. you would naturally think that it should. be illegal for anyone to make deep fake. nudes of 12 and 13 18-year-old girls but.

the answer to this question is a lot. more complicated than you might. [Music]. think we'll be right. back so Natasha you talked about the. question of legality as being very.

complicated what do you mean by that. well what I mean is that there are. different laws that could cover this and. so let me break it down there's a whole. section of the law that Outlaws The. Possession and distribution of what's. called child sexual abuse material and. that's explicit video or photos or. images of underage children engaged in. sexual. acts but that doesn't mean that every. photo of an unclothed child is. automatically illegal for example a.

photo of a naked child in and of itself. may not be illegal like if you think of. a parent taking a photo of their toddler. in a bathtub but if the image shows a. child that is sexually suggestive or. engaging in explicit sexual conduct that. is illegal that's the red line the big. question as we're starting to see more. and more of these deep fakes is where do. these images fall on the spect of. material if an image shows a 17-year-old.

without clothes on does that meet the. federal definition of a legal. [Music]. material this came up in my reporting. because there is a case in a high school. where boys made these deep fake nudes of. their female classmates and according to. the police reports local police heard. about it from the parents of the girls. who complained but they didn't hear. about it from the school. and so the police detective went to the.

school and said you know these images. fall under the child's sexual abuse. material statute and you as a school are. mandatorily required to report such. images and eventually the school. district does report the Deep fake news. but when I reached out to them to ask. the school district about this the. school district sent me a note saying. that they had reported the Deep fake. nudes of female students out of an. abundance of caution because the school.

district's lawyers said these were fake. they weren't real and maybe it wasn't. necessary to report. them so even within school districts. there is confusion about the legality or. illegality of these deep fake nude. [Music]. images okay so some of these deep fakes. are actually illegal sexually explicit. AI generated IM of minors but some.

images are actually still pretty unclear. so what is being done to clear up that. gray area to make it more black and. white a number of families whose. daughters have been subject to these. deep fake nudes want to see a standard. law or policies to protect their. daughters and other people's daughters. and so you see that some families are. lobbying for states to pass laws to to. prohibit these images and the Manis are.

one family who have been lobbying for. New Jersey to pass a law to prohibit. these deep fakes but many states are. introducing new bills and there are. different approaches to doing this some. states are expanding their laws on child. sexual abuse material to include these. AI generated nudes and make those. illegal got it and then there's another.

approach where states have laws on. Revenge porn and that prohibits people. who have taken consensual sexual images. with their Partners you know when they. break up if they're pissed off it's. illegal to post those online without the. other partner's consent and so states. are taking these Revenge born laws and. adding AI generated nudes right and the. third approach is to come up with. entirely new laws that are specific to.

these deep fake nudes and to prohibit. The Possession or production or. distribution of these AI generated. sexually explicit images of minors and. sometimes both of minors and adults so. you're talking here about state laws is. there anything happening on the federal. front so to be clear federal law on. child sexual abuse material applies here. it covers computer generated and and. real images and the FBI has recently.

said that it covers these deep fake AI. generated images as well and there are. also efforts to address this more. directly the White House issued an. executive order last fall making it a. priority to find ways to stop AI from. producing these abusive images and. Congress also recently introduced bills. to prohibit these AI generated nude. images and to allow victims to sue but. these efforts are not very far along and.

really the momentum for change is. happening primarily at the state level. right now and it's important for states. to do this because these cases are often. prosecuted at the state and local level. okay so you talked about the third. approach creating entirely new laws what. does that process look like on the. ground what are you seeing pop up around. the country we've seen over the last two. years lawmakers in two dozen states. introducing these bills that are. specific to a I generated deep fake news.

and these bills really vary in content. and in the severity of the. punishments Massachusetts lawmakers are. hammering out a new bill that would. criminalize the sharing of these. explicit images but it takes a different. approach to adults and minors it would. be a crime for adults to make these deep. fake nudes of minor but if it's teen.

boys making the same kind of images they. could first be sentenced to a diversion. program which means that like they'd. have to learn about what's problematic. about these images they'd have to learn. about the responsible use of generative. AI they'd have to learn what the. punishments are so Massachusetts is. taking a more graduated approach you. know by comparison Louisiana passed a. law and under the new Louisiana law. anybody who knowingly makes or shares or.

sells these sexually explicit deep fake. nudes of minors could face a minimum. prison sentence of five to 10 years oh. wow pretty tough right and it raises the. question of should a teen boy who makes. images of a teen girl face the same. punishment as a 50-year-old pedophile. who makes these images right important. question and that is very tricky it is. really tricky and it came up in my. reporting because at the end of last. year police off officers in the Miami.

area arrested two Middle School boys for. allegedly making and sharing these. simulated nude images of two female. classmates who were 12 and 13 and. according to the police documents we got. the boys were charged with third deegree. felonies wow under a. 2022 state law which prohibits altering. sexual depictions without consent and so. the question is what happens if they. convicted you know maybe they could be.

sent to a remediation program like the. one that the Massachusetts lawmakers are. working on or maybe you know they would. have to register as sex offenders for. something they did when they were 13. years old and that would follow them for. the rest of their lives and so there's a. really complicated question about as new. laws are being passed how should. students who are doing this in middle. and high school be treated as opposed to. pedophiles so Natasha at the end of the. today we're left with a pretty.

complicated picture here and with a very. hard question this technology has. resulted in real harm for young girls. and their families but at the same time. addressing that harm raises the question. of criminalizing young boys I think. that's the crucial question Sabrina and. it underscores how schools and parents. and lawmakers and law enforcement are. just in the opening stages of figuring. out how to deal with AI. [Music].

abuse and I've come to believe based on. my reporting over the last year that. it's actually part of a much larger. problem young people's increasingly. toxic relationship with. technology children and teens. relationship with technology changed. during the pandemic we all know that. many kids and teens began spending more. and more time online and some kids. became much more is is olated schools. tell me they believe that this has led.

to a spike in cyber bullying and some. psychologists blame it on kids. compulsive use of social media and I. think the technology issue is also. connected to a whole constellation of. problems that schools are dealing with. post pandemic like increased depression. among students and increased. absenteeism and so I think that this is. not just a story about AI abuse in. schools it's a story about how. technology is fundamentally changing.

childhood adolescence and education and. it's a story about how the grown-ups. whether it school administrators or. state lawmakers parents or members of. Congress are all racing to catch. [Music]. up Natasha thank you thank you Sabrina. [Music].

we'll be right. back here's what else you should know. today on Thursday an Israeli air strike. hit a United Nations School complex in. the central Gaza Strip that had become a. shelter for thousands of displaced. Palestinians and Israel said Hamas. militants Gaza Health officials said 40. people were killed in the attack.

including 14 children and nine women the. Israeli military said that its forces. had targeted a group of about 30. militants using three classrooms as a. base including some who had taken part. in the October 7th. attacks and Steven Bannon a longtime. adviser to former president Donald Trump. was told by a federal judge to surrender. to authorities by July 1st. to start serving a 4-month prison term.

Bannon was sentenced in October 2022 for. contempt of congress after he disobeyed. a subpoena to give testimony to the. house committee that investigated the. January 6 2021 attack on the capital. Bannon also faces a trial later this. year on charges of misusing money that. he helped raise for a group backing. Trump's border. [Music]. wall a ER will be sharing a new episode. of the interview tomorrow those few days.

that we shot the pivotal scenes in the. movie I had to call home a lot I I. really uh. was a tad unhinged this week Lulu Garcia. Navaro talks with comedy Legend Julia. Lou dfus about what it was like to go to. much darker places in her latest film. today's episode was produced by Sydney.

Harper and Shannon Lynn it was edited by. Mark George contains original music by. Maran Lozano Alicia bitu and Dan Powell. and was engineered by Chris Wood our. theme music is by Jim brunberg and Ben. Lanser of. [Music]. wonderly that's it for the Daily I'm. Sabrina Tavern see you on Monday.

[Music].