education • Dec. 22, 2025

The rise of deepfake cyberbullying poses a growing problem for schools

Deepfake cyberbullying is emerging as a serious challenge for schools, raising concerns about student safety, mental health, and digital accountability.

The rapid rise of deepfake cyberbullying is creating an urgent and complex problem for schools, as advances in artificial intelligence make it easier to create realistic but false images, videos, and audio recordings that can be used to harass, humiliate, or threaten students. Unlike traditional forms of cyberbullying, deepfakes can fabricate events that never occurred, placing victims in highly damaging and often sexualized or criminal scenarios that are difficult to disprove once they spread online. Schools are increasingly reporting incidents in which students’ faces are digitally inserted into explicit content, manipulated videos, or false recordings that circulate through social media, messaging apps, and gaming platforms, causing profound emotional distress and long-lasting reputational harm.

The psychological impact on victims can be severe, leading to anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, academic decline, and in extreme cases, self-harm. Educators and administrators face significant challenges in responding to these incidents, as existing disciplinary policies and anti-bullying frameworks were not designed to address AI-generated content that blurs the line between reality and fabrication. The speed at which deepfakes can be created and shared often outpaces schools’ ability to intervene, while questions of jurisdiction arise when harmful content is generated off-campus but affects students’ well-being and school environments.

Legal and ethical complexities further complicate the issue, as laws governing deepfakes, digital impersonation, and online harassment remain inconsistent or underdeveloped, leaving schools uncertain about their authority and responsibilities. Parents and educators express growing concern that students lack the digital literacy needed to understand the permanence and consequences of manipulating images or sharing false content, particularly as AI tools become more accessible and user-friendly. At the same time, perpetrators may underestimate the seriousness of their actions, viewing deepfake creation as a joke or prank rather than a form of abuse with real-world consequences.

Schools are increasingly being urged to adopt proactive strategies, including updated policies that explicitly address AI-generated harassment, staff training to recognize and respond to deepfake incidents, and student education focused on ethical technology use and consent. Collaboration with parents, mental health professionals, law enforcement, and technology platforms is becoming essential as schools attempt to navigate the evolving threat. Technology companies face mounting pressure to improve detection tools, content moderation, and reporting mechanisms to limit the spread of harmful deepfakes, particularly those involving minors.

Advocates argue that stronger legal protections are needed to hold creators and distributors of malicious deepfakes accountable, while also safeguarding free expression and legitimate uses of AI. The rise of deepfake cyberbullying also raises broader societal questions about trust, identity, and truth in the digital age, as young people grow up in an environment where visual evidence can no longer be assumed to be authentic. For schools, the challenge is not only disciplinary but cultural, requiring a shift toward fostering empathy, responsibility, and critical thinking in digital spaces.

As AI technology continues to evolve, experts warn that deepfake cyberbullying may become more frequent and more difficult to detect, making early intervention and education crucial. Addressing the problem effectively will require coordinated efforts across education systems, legal frameworks, and technology platforms to protect students and preserve safe learning environments. Without decisive action, the spread of deepfake cyberbullying threatens to undermine student well-being, trust within school communities, and confidence in the digital tools that increasingly shape modern education..