More than half of cases reported to Japanese police of explicit deepfakes targeting those under 18 years old were created with the involvement of students from the same schools as the victims, National Police Agency data have shown.
This is the first time that the NPA has released information on minors who became victims of obscene fake images created using generative artificial intelligence and other technologies. The agency plans to create flyers and warn against such use of AI at delinquency-prevention lectures at schools and other locations.
According to the NPA, police were consulted in over 79 cases of deepfakes targeting those up to the age of 17 from January to September this year. Of them, 41 cases involved junior high school students, 25 cases high school students and four cases involving elementary school children.
Students from the same schools, such as classmates and senior students, were involved in 53.2% of the cases.
Images were confirmed to have been created using generative AI in 14 cases and with image-editing apps in two cases. Although the method used to make deepfakes could not be identified in the remaining cases, most are believed to be AI-generated.
While the nine-month total did not rise sharply from the 76 reported in the same period of 2024, the proportion of cases involving elementary and junior high school students increased, indicating a trend toward younger victims, supported by the spread of easy-to-use generative AI services. Authorities believe many cases remain unreported.
Police are cracking down on perpetrators.
The Kyoto Prefectural Police took an enforcement action against a man who posted fake images of a female high school student on social media, and referred the victim＊s classmate to prosecutors. The classmate allegedly asked the man to create such images.
In another case, a group of junior high school students were taken into protective custody by police after editing and sharing deepfake images generated with photographs from school events obtained from school tablets.
According to the NPA, four people were arrested or referred to prosecutors, and six minors were taken into custody in the January-September period for alleged defamation or displaying obscene electronic records.
※Editing and posting sexual images is an unforgivable act that leaves victims with lasting scars,§ an agency official said. ※We urge people never to misuse AI this way.§
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