When someone uses AI to create fake nude or sexual images of a real young person — often a classmate. What it is, the law, and how to get images removed.
Deepfake Nudes is the use of AI tools to fabricate fake nude or sexual images of a real person, often a peer, which is a criminal offence to make or share and is treated as child sexual abuse material when the person shown is under 18.
Free 'nudify' apps and AI tools let people generate fake nude or sexual images of a real person from an ordinary photo. Increasingly this is happening between peers — a classmate's face used to make fake sexual images that are then shared in group chats. Where the person shown is under 18, the image is treated in law as child sexual abuse material, even though it is 'fake'. Sharing or threatening to share it is a criminal offence in the UK.
Someone takes a normal photo — from social media, a school event, or a shared chat — and runs it through an app that fabricates a nude or sexual version. The images can look convincing and are often circulated to humiliate, bully, or coerce the target. Unlike sextortion, there may be no demand for money; the harm is the creation and spread itself. Victims are frequently blamed unfairly, when the responsibility lies entirely with the person who made or shared the image.
In your child's behaviour
On their device
Name it before it happens
Talk to teenagers about deepfake nudes as something that exists and is never the victim's fault. Agree that if it ever happens to them or a friend, they can tell you and you will help without judgement.
Tighten who can see their photos
Encourage private accounts and thinking twice before posting clear face photos publicly. Fewer public images means less raw material for someone to misuse.
Make schools part of the plan
Ask your child's school how it handles fake sexual images of pupils. Under KCSIE this is a safeguarding matter, not a prank, and schools should have a clear response that supports the victim.
In immediate danger: call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101.
Concerned about a child but it's not an emergency? NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000. Childline for young people 0800 1111.
This is practical educational content to support families. For case-specific concerns about a child's safety, contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or your local safeguarding team.
Myth: You can always tell a deepfake from a real image.
Fact: Modern tools produce images convincing enough to fool adults, and even an obviously fake image humiliates and harms the person shown. How realistic it looks has no bearing on how seriously it is treated.
Myth: If it was made 'as a joke' between classmates, it isn't serious.
Fact: A fake sexual image of an under-18 is treated in law as an indecent image of a child, whatever the motive. Framing it as banter fails both the victim and the child who made it, who may not grasp what they've done.
Myth: If we ignore it, the image will just fade away.
Fact: Images circulate through group chats and can resurface long after the original is deleted. Acting early — noting where it is, reporting it, and involving the school — gives the best chance of stopping the spread.
Below the age this typically happens, so focus on reducing raw material and building habits: keep their accounts and your own family photos private, and teach that photos of other people are never edited or shared without asking.
Group chats are where this often starts. Make two things explicit: altering images of classmates is never acceptable, and if a fake image of them or a friend ever circulates, telling you will bring help, not blame or a lost phone.
Name the law plainly — making or sharing a fake sexual image of anyone under 18 is a crime — and challenge victim-blaming when it comes up. Agree the first moves: don't forward it, note where it is, and tell you or the school's safeguarding lead.
Make sure they know creators face real legal consequences, and that sharing intimate images of anyone without consent is an offence at any age. Encourage them to support friends who are targeted and to report rather than quietly delete.
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