JEP EXCLUSIVE
DEEPFAKE videos depicting Jersey teachers in humiliating, compromising and sexualised scenarios – uploaded to a fake school social media account – have been reported to police.
The videos, which were uploaded to TikTok using the name of Grainville School and presented as “official”, were viewed nearly 20,000 times within a matter of days.
Education Minister Rob Ward described the clips as “deeply inappropriate” and an “outrageous misuse of Grainville School’s badge and branding”.
A total of five videos were uploaded to the account, all depicting teachers in degrading or inappropriate scenarios.
One AI-generated video shows two male teachers performing exaggerated dance moves beneath the caption “dance if you like flirting with little girls”. At the time of writing, the clip had been viewed more than 3,500 times and shared 168 times.
Another video, viewed more than 4,000 times and shared over 300 times, is a montage of AI-generated deepfake clips.
In one, a male teacher is depicted barking, getting down on all fours and eating from a dog bowl. Two clips show teachers firing guns while shouting, while others carry sexual undertones while some set out to ridicule the appearance of specific staff members.
Deputy Ward said he strongly urged people “not to watch, share, or engage with this material in any way”.
He confirmed to the JEP that the matter “has been reported to both TikTok and the police, and we are working closely with the school to support staff and students”.
“We take any attempt to impersonate our schools or cause harm to members of our community extremely seriously,” he added.
While Deputy Ward explained that this appeared to be an isolated incident, he said issue was being monitored across all schools.
“Highlighting and circulating the activity of fake accounts and media reporting can inadvertently give them more attention and encourage others to repeat this behaviour. For this, I would urge extreme caution. Our focus is on ensuring the swift removal of the content, supporting those affected, and reinforcing safeguarding measures. At this stage, this appears to be an isolated incident, but we continue to monitor the situation across all schools,” he added.
The application used – which the JEP has chosen not to name – is free to download and invites the user to “remix anyone into viral memes”.
Its community rules state that users should not “use photos of your friends, family, or anyone else without consent”.
It also prohibits the creation and sharing of “sexually suggestive animations” including “lewd gestures”, “content that could offend or disrespect cultural, religious, ethnic groups, genders, or races”, and depictions of “violent acts that could be disturbing to other members”.
“Failure to comply with these guidelines can result in disciplinary actions, including temporary suspension, permanent removal from the community, a ban from using our services, and deletion of all your creations,” the policy states.
Speaking to the JEP, Matt Palmer, director of Jersey & Guernsey Cyber Security Centres, said that whoever had set up the account “should be deeply ashamed”, adding: “I hope they reflect on what it would feel like to be the target of this sort of content. Sometimes people think creating this type of content is cool, but it’s not – it’s immature, childish and offensive.”
“Nobody should have to put up with this type of behaviour in their work whether it is teachers, politicians, or others. Sharing or recirculating this type of content is simply wrong and I hope anyone who has done so will consider the impact their actions could have on the victims as well as the risk they have put themselves in by sharing this,” he added.
Mr Palmer said this was part of a broader, concerning trend.
“It’s deeply worrying that it is now so easy to create malicious and offensive content. AI tools now make creating deepfakes incredibly easy, and the companies behind these tools often lack the controls necessary to use these tools safely. Today anyone can create in two minutes on a phone what a few years ago would have taken a team two weeks. Whilst it’s great to have access to these powerful tools, we have to learn to use them responsibly. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should,” he said.
“Young people creating this content may not realise that they are putting themselves at risk too. There are often ways to identify who has produced online content, and it can come back to haunt you in your relationships or in job applications in the future. That matters even more in a small island community.
“The problem is made worse by the lack of effective content moderation on many platforms. The effect of this is not just the emotional hurt caused, but increasingly blurring the lines between what we can trust and what we cannot.
“Last year Islanders lost over £5m to cyber scams, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. Many incidents are not reported and many more, like this one, inflict emotional harm rather than financial loss.”
This latest example of deepfake abuse coincides with work to create new legislation aiming to improve online safety for Islanders, including giving them more rights over their own image, following a review by the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel which found that online safeguarding procedures in Jersey are weaker than they are in the UK and Europe.
The legislation would require social media platforms to have accessible complaint procedures allowing users to request for “illegal content” to be removed, and the service would be required to respond within 48 hours of making the request.
This includes intimate or sexually explicit images shared without consent, photos taken during vulnerable moments, and images used to bully or ridicule someone.
It also seeks to address online privacy rights, as currently there is a legal “grey area” which has led to distress in previous cases involving intimate images or harassment.
A consultation is currently underway and Islanders have until 6 March to submit their views on the proposed legislation. More information can be found at gov.je/consultations.
In the meantime, Mr Palmer said there were still “steps we can take to protect ourselves”.
“Most importantly don’t like or share information you believe to be fake, even to criticise it, as that only has the effect of circulating it further. If you are the target of such activity report it straight away to the States of Jersey Police. We also encourage islanders to report these to us at JCSC. Sometimes we can help get them taken down or the account blocked, though it is very difficult to do so,” he said.
