CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — A troubling form of cyber bullying occured last week as five juveniles at Fort Dorchester High School were alleged victims of AI ‘Deep Fakes,’ where their faces were digitally placed on AI sexually generated images, North Charleston Police say.
“One in three teens are already familiar with deep fake nudes,” Cailin Crockett with the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative said. “One in eight personally knows someone who has been targeted.”
While this case in particular is disturbing, parents are wondering just how much exposure kids have to these powerful new tools.
“What scares me is the amount of kids realizing that they can AI their classmates naked,” says Rich Wistocki with BeSure Consulting, a cyber expert who trains SROs across the country, including here in the lowcountry, “they’re manufacturing child pornography.”
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Cyber experts say it’s a type of bullying that can have far-reaching effects, especially for children and teens.
“People,” Crockett explains, “who’ve been depicted non-consensually, including through deep fakes, including young people, experience anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, can lead to self-harm and even suicide.”
It can lead to more than bullying; it can also open the door for sex trafficking.
“[Predators] totally use it as blackmail and sextortion,” Wistocki said. “If I have a kid who’s vulnerable through Roblox or through a chat platform, they’ll find out, single mom or maybe living with your grandparents. They’re not really supervised. Perfect victim to be trafficked. Now that I have you, you’re going to make me pictures and videos, or you’re going to meet me, or you’re going to meet this person, you’re going to make a lot of money for me.”
South Carolina lawmakers and the Trump administration have worked to strengthen laws related to deep fakes, but parents and teachers are still the first line of defense.
“Parents need to do monitoring software on their kids’ devices and their home computers,” Wistocki adds. “Don’t allow your child to charge your device in the rooms at night because 100% they are going to be victimized. Put monitoring software on your kid’s device. If they have an Android, put Bark on it. There’s a new program that we tested called Bright Canary, amazing on iPhones.”
“It’s really important that adults are proactively engaging in conversations with the young people in their life about setting healthy norms and boundaries when it comes to the use of digital tools and products,” Crocket explained. “These lessons should start early among parents and caregivers with the young people in their life.”
Resources:
- Take It Down: A resource to take down picture on social media if someone has been a victim.
- Bark: Parental Monitoring App for Android
- Bright Canary: Parental Monitoring App for iPhone
If you are a victim of a Deep Fake
- Take Screen Captures of Everything
- Get the User ID, Gamer Tag, Fake Phone Number and/or Email
- Do NOT report it to the Social Media Network (They may shut down the account…Report it to the police FIRST)
- Make a Detailed Typed Statement
- Put Everything on a flash drive for police
