UK schools should remove pictures of pupils’ faces from their websites and social media accounts because blackmailers are using them to create sexually explicit images, experts have said. Child safety experts and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) warn that criminals are using AI to manipulate photos of children and then demand cash not to publish them.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said an unnamed UK secondary school had recently been subjected to a blackmail attempt after criminals used the institution’s website or social media accounts to take photos of schoolchildren and, using AI tools, turned them into child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The blackmailers sent the images to the school and threatened to publish them online if they did not receive money.
The IWF used a digital tool to turn the blackmail images into a “hash”, or digital fingerprint, which was shared with leading tech platforms to prevent them from being uploaded. The watchdog said 150 of the images from the secondary school blackmail attempt could be classified as CSAM under UK law.
Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said the attempted blackmailing of schools was a “deeply worrying emerging threat” and laws on use of AI to create explicit images would be updated if necessary, having announced a ban on possessing AI models designed to generate CSAM.
A UK advisory body on tackling online harms, the early warning working group (EWWG), has issued guidance to schools on protecting pupils from blackmailers. The group recommended schools remove images that show a student face-on and instead publish images that are harder to misuse, such as pictures taken from a distance, blurred images or portraits taken from behind a pupil. Schools should also consider whether they need pupil photos at all, said the guidance.
The Confederation of School Trusts (CST) said schools would “carefully consider” the guidance and find the “right balance” between “celebrating pupils … and keeping everyone safe”.
