<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Investigations are under way into reports that explicit deepfake photos were made using the faces of female high school students in Sydney.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-16/police-investigate-sydney-school-image-deepfake/105896812" rel="" target="" title="The ABC reported"><span>The ABC reported</span></a><span> that families alerted police upon learning the digitally altered photos were circulating online, after a male student was sent one of the images and told the school.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>NSW Police has confirmed officers in the Ryde area, north-west of the CBD, are investigating the report.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/sydney-oxford-street-pink-pony-gay-club-forced-to-change-its-name-after-community-backlash/2b89f08c-cbdf-4fa0-bc71-3a9ff002b2b2" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>New Sydney nightclub forced to change its name after community outrage</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Officers attached to Ryde Police Area Command have commenced an investigation," a police spokesperson said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Inquiries are ongoing and there is no further information available at this time."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Department of Education said it is working closely with police and will take action if any student is found to be behind the images.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/sydney-ryde-area-investigations-into-explicit-deepfake-photos-of-female-high-school-students/858bc59c-1363-44f5-916a-7185cb808ce3" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Deepfakes present significant new risks to the wellbeing and privacy of students," a department spokesperson said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The school is working closely with police on this matter. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If any student is found to have engaged in this behaviour, the school will be taking strong disciplinary action."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Acting Education Minister Courtney Houssos said the report was "deeply concerning".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These are deeply concerning reports, and police are investigating this matter as is appropriate. I expect those responsible to face the appropriate consequences," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I understand the school has support in place for the students affected as well as support for the broader school community.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"As this is an active police investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/house-shot-at-set-on-fire-cabramatta-sydney/efc128d2-a189-4e98-9886-4273fbfdedde" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Second shooting linked to car, house fires in Sydney's west and south-west</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>NSW tightens laws around deepfakes</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Last month, NSW passed legislation to criminalise using artificial intelligence to create intimate images without consent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It is now punishable by up to three years in jail.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Sharing those images, even if a person has not created them, can also land them in jail for the same amount of time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The amendments also cracked down on the creation, recording and sharing of sexually explicit audio that is either real or designed to sound like a real person.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Attorney-General Michael Daley said the laws would better protect people, particularly young women, from image-based abuse.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This bill closes a gap in NSW legislation that leaves women vulnerable to AI-generated sexual exploitation," he said at the time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We are ensuring that anyone who seeks to humiliate, intimidate or degrade someone using AI can be prosecuted."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/sydney-weather-hottest-october-on-record-could-happen/54f06329-d148-4eae-99a5-a5c30a1b1d1d" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>One capital on track to shatter heat record, temperatures soar in another</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>'Current crisis' for schools and students </span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Deepfakes are digitally altered photos, videos or voice recordings of someone that have been edited to falsely depict them. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tools to create deepfakes can be exploited to create non-consensual and fake explicit images of a person, with women and girls the most likely targets.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, in June said deepfakes are a "current crisis affecting school communities across Australia".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Students have found their image represented in fake nude photos or videos," the commissioner wrote at the time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Others have received AI-generated explicit content of their peers. Entire school communities have been thrown into turmoil – with families, educators, and students unsure how to respond."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Inman Grant added that deepfakes are "increasingly in use" among young people.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.</span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800.</span></strong><span></span></div></div>