Lappeenranta offers crisis support after deepfake case

Young people in Lappeenranta are being offered crisis and counselling support after police suspected that a minor distributed artificial intelligence-generated nude images of more than 100 girls, Yle reports.

The case has caused concern among young people in the Finnish city. Students at upper secondary schools have received a message about it through Wilma, a school communications system.

Students can discuss the case with a school nurse, psychologist or curator at their school or educational institution.

“The most important thing is to ensure that young people and their loved ones can receive counselling and crisis support if necessary,” Anne Korhonen, a service manager at the South Karelia wellbeing services county, said in an email.

Korhonen said discussions and different emotions could come to the surface in the coming days.

Deepfakes are spreading rapidly

Fake nude images targeting girls and women are a rapidly spreading phenomenon in Finland. The Yle report said the rape crisis centre Tukinainen had received occasional contacts related to deepfakes, but leading crisis worker Johanna Linner Matikka expects the number of cases to increase.

According to Linner Matikka, the effects on victims can be broad and varied. In some cases, fake images have been distributed alongside victims’ names and titles.

“The purpose has then been to shame them and spread false information, while also revealing who the person in the image is and where she lives and works. It is then a truly intimate and personal act,” Linner Matikka said.

Victims may feel exploited even when they know they did not do the things shown in the fake images. They may also worry about where the images will end up and how they could affect their work and family.

“In that sense, it enters a person’s private sphere, even though it is fake and untrue,” Linner Matikka said.

Calls for more education

Linner Matikka said deepfake images are a form of violence and hatred directed at women. She said new forms of violence emerge as technology develops.

In her view, prevention should focus above all on increasing sexual education in schools, including discussion of a culture of consent, human rights, human dignity and the right to privacy. She also said these discussions should be extended to leisure activities and linked to broader questions about social media use.

“These are not separate phenomena, and responsibility is, of course, shared,” Linner Matikka said.

Eighteen-year-old Lappeenranta resident Iia Kurikka said schools should teach students more about identifying AI-generated content and strengthen media literacy.