Staff are facing “a terrifying new frontier of digital harassment”, NASUWT general secretary Matt Wrack warned before the union’s annual conference
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Teachers are concerned about deepfakes being made of them using artificial intelligence (AI) and being filmed without their consent, an education union has warned.
Staff are facing “a terrifying new frontier of digital harassment”, NASUWT general secretary Matt Wrack warned before the union’s annual conference.
Schools and the Department for Education must make sure teachers are protected from this, he added.
Mr Wrack said: “Teachers are facing a terrifying new frontier of digital harassment. The ability to secretly record, edit or fabricate footage of staff poses a profound threat to their safety, dignity and professional standing.
“No teacher should have their reputation destroyed by a manipulated video or AI‑generated audio. Schools and the Department for Education must act now to protect teachers from this abuse.
“We are hearing from teachers who have been filmed without consent, and we know that pupils now have access to AI tools capable of cloning voices or altering video in ways that are almost impossible to detect.
“Even the possibility of manipulated content being circulated online is deeply distressing for staff. This is completely unacceptable and schools need clear powers to confiscate devices, impose sanctions and respond swiftly to digital misconduct.”
NASUWT has previously supported a UK-wide statutory ban on mobile phones in schools and a social media ban for under-16s.
Mr Wrack also told reporters before conference that pupil behaviour is still one of the top issues for NASUWT’s members.
In a survey of teachers last year, the union found more than four in five teachers felt the number of pupils exhibiting violent and abusive behaviour had increased, with two in five saying they had experienced physical abuse or violence.
“That people are facing physical injury in schools from pupil behaviour is alarming,” Mr Wrack said.
NASUWT is also worried the Government’s reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (Send) system risk giving “new responsibilities and burdens” to teachers.
The union is concerned that funding announced to make schools more inclusive will not be enough, Mr Wrack added.
“We don’t feel that teachers’ experiences have been adequately built into the Send consultation document,” he said.
Under the Government’s reforms, announced in February, schools across England will have a statutory duty to draw up a digital individual support plan (ISP) for every child with Send, and children currently with an EHCP will have it reviewed when they reach the end of primary or secondary school.
EHCPs, which are legal documents setting out support a child with Send is entitled to, will still exist for children judged to need the highest level of support – a specialist provision package.
The reforms will be backed by £1.6 billion for mainstream schools, colleges and early years settings over three years to help them become more inclusive.
In addition, £1.8 billion over three years will go towards creating a bank of specialists in every area such as Send teachers and speech and language therapists that schools can draw from, and £200 million towards Send teacher training.