Townhall has covered how dangerous social media can be for children. In one instance, a 16-year-old boy committed suicide by walking in front of a train near his home after TikTok’s algorithm recommended “railroad themed suicide videos” to the teen in the weeks leading up to his death.
Not to mention, for decades, “cyberbullying” has occurred in various ways. Now, a new method of bullying using artificial intelligence has taken hold.
According to a shocking report from the New York Post, teens are using AI to create “disturbingly realistic” nude images of their classmates.
That’s not all. Then, the students are sharing the photos “like digital wildfire,” the Post noted:
The AI-powered tools, often dubbed “nudify” apps, are as sinister as they sound. With just a headshot — often lifted from a yearbook photo or social media profile — these apps can fabricate explicit deepfake images that appear scarily real.
And yes, it’s already happening in schools.
“We’re at a place now where you can be doing nothing and stories and pictures about you are posted online,” Don Austin, superintendent of the Palo Alto Unified School District, told Fox News Digital of the scary trend.
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“They’re fabricated. They’re completely made up through AI and it can have your voice or face. That’s a whole other world,” Austin added.
The Post noted that last year, the San Francisco City Attorney’s office sued 16 so-called “nudify” websites for allegedly violating laws around child exploitation and nonconsensual images. In the first half of 2023, those websites reportedly garnered over 200 million visits.
“Kids these days will upload maybe a headshot of another kid at school and the app will recreate the body of the person as though they’re nude,” Josh Ochs, the founder of SmartSocial, told Fox News.
“This causes extreme harm to that kid that might be in the photo, and especially their friends as well and a whole family,” he continued.
“Before you give your kids a phone or social media, it’s time to have that discussion early and often. Hey, this is a loaner for you, and I can take it back at any time because you could really hurt our family,” he concluded.
In a statement to Townhall, American Parents Coalition Executive Director Alleigh Marré said that parents need to be prepared to act if their children are "targeted" by this.
“Mental health issues and in some instances, self-harm, are well documented effects of bullying among kids. It’s an unfortunate reality that as technology has evolved, so have bullying tactics. No one – especially children – should have to worry about the sharing of fake photographs exploiting their sexuality. Congress, state legislatures, and big tech should also work to protect children from being sexually exploited online either by fake images or sexual predators," she explained.
