Private school denies discouraging parents from telling victims about deepfake incident

A Tasmanian private school criticized over its handling of an AI deepfake incident has denied ever trying to stop parents from telling their daughters that they had been identified in sexually explicit images.

Two parents told the ABC that senior staff at Friends’ School called to tell them their daughters had been identified in AI-generated pornographic images, then told them most parents wouldn’t tell their children.

The fake images of the girls were allegedly shared by male students in a group chat. The parents said police told them that 21 girls had been identified as victims.

Since then, five boys have left the school and police said no charges have been filed.

In a formal complaint to the school, one parent wrote: “I was informed (by the school) that the majority of parents had chosen not to inform their children that they had been identified and that this was considered to be in the best interests of the students.”

The two parents told the ABC their…