The Friends' School, the largest Quaker school in the world based in Tasmania, Australia, has faced criticism from parents after AI-generated deepfake pornography was created of 21 female pupils and shared among a group of boys. Tasmania Police confirmed the incident, which involved images of the girls being altered using artificial intelligence software to produce explicit material.
Five boys have since left the school after being identified as the creators and disseminators of the deepfake child pornography. Parents of two victims told the ABC that police informed them of the scale of the abuse, with 21 victims identified in total.
One mother said the school encouraged her not to tell her daughter about the abuse, stating: 'We're talking about sexual assault, about child pornography, and they're taking our girls' voices away from them.' Another parent described being 'gobsmacked' when contacted by the school, adding that most parents were reportedly choosing not to inform their daughters.
The parents said the AI-generated images initially depicted the girls clothed before progressing to nudity and pornography, with the material lifted from social media. They expressed concern that the victims were left feeling confused, isolated, and ashamed, unsure of whom to talk to for support.
In response, one mother wrote to Tasmania's education minister, Jo Palmer, who said she could not 'imagine the distress this situation has caused' and referred the school to the Non-Government School Registrations Board. School principal Esther Hill maintained that the school had acted 'promptly, in line with our child safety obligations' and informed affected families.
