This teen was targeted by deepfake nudes. She hopes new training course will help future victims
This teen was targeted by deepfake nudes. She hopes new training course will help future victims
https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/12/tech/explicit-deepfake-abuse-training-course-elliston-berry
Publish Date: 2026-01-12 05:00:00
Source Domain: www.cnn.com
Here’s an unordered list highlighting the key points from the article:
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Elliston Berry’s Personal Experience: At 14, Elliston Berry discovered a classmate had shared a non-consensual deepfake nude image of her, leading her to seek information on how to address and remove these harmful photos from social media.
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Initiative to Counter Harassment: Now 16, Berry is advocating for greater awareness by creating an online training course, alongside cybersecurity firm Adaptive Security and Pathos Consulting Group.
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Growing Incidence of Deepfake Abuse: The proliferation of artificial intelligence has made deepfakes, especially those with a sexual content, more accessible and widely used for harassment purposes.
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Education Gap and Importance of Curriculum: Berry emphasized the lack of awareness and education among school leaders, which led to the importance of providing curricula to help educators protect victims in future instances of deepfake abuse.
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Online Course Highlights: The course designed for teens, parents, and educators includes topics about recognizing AI-generated deepfakes, sexual abuse via deepfakes, and sextortion.
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Support Resources and Legal Guidance: The curriculum provides links to support resources from RAINN and details on legal consequences under the Take It Down Act, emphasizing the seriousness and illegal nature of such abuse.
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Free Access to Training: Adaptive Security is committing to making this crucial training available to schools and parents free of charge.
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Continued Impact and Need for Awareness: Berry stresses that this issue remains prevalent and stresses the importance of education, learning, and conversation to counter this type of harmful and illegal activity.