Community and Partnership in the Age of the DeepfakeDear Emmanuel School Community, Welcome back to school and the second semester of 2025. Our annual theme, Arise and Shine, echoes our desire as a community to be a beacon of glorious hope, and a call to model community as described in Acts 4:32-35: ‘All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had … and God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons amongst them’.
This term under our annual theme, we are focusing on Community and Collaboration. This is the term in which we bring our community together through various events, culminating in ECON25. The term focus is a call to each one of us (hence my salutation is to all of us – you are the community) to work in building a school culture where generosity, mutual care, trust, and shared responsibility flourish. The picture of such a culture is one where each one of us is deeply committed to one another, sharing resources, and supporting each other with sincerity and love. Such a culture is not just built on shared goals but shared hearts. This is a vision we strive to live out in our classrooms, playgrounds, excursions, and homes – where everyone knows they belong and have a role and purpose. Whilst we celebrate the possibility of such a culture, we have to confront the growing threats to our deep unity and foundations of trust that binds us – especially those emerging from the artificial intelligence technologies. One such challenge is the rise of the AI-generated deepfakes. Remarks by the e-Safety commissioner recently affirm the existential threat to community, families, and schools presented by deepfakes. It is concerning that over the past year and a half there has been a doubling in reports of AI-altered images of a personal and intimate nature of people, just like all of us using the readily available ‘nudify’ apps. Of these numbers, more than 80% of the victims of this synthetic media have been female students. This deceptive altering of simple innocent images or videos or portrayal of events that never happened has created new avenues for harassment, bullying, humiliation, and exploitation among those of school going age. As a school, we realise the risk posed by deepfakes to our community and their destabilising effect on the wellbeing of our community through undermining truth, sowing fear and anxiety, and violating the dignity of individuals. Scholars argue that deepfakes present a ‘liars’ dividend’ where even true content may be dismissed as fake, thus eroding the shared reality necessary for community cohesion. In light of this risk, our school community has and will continue to implement and support our community through a multi-layered response. Firstly, our school remains a mobile phone free zone. May I urge us to acquaint ourselves with the school’s Mobile Device Policy. Secondly, we will continue to strengthen our digital citizenship education in our homerooms across all year levels. Our policies and reporting protocols continue to be aligned with legislated safeguarding standards. We are currently updating our e-Safety risk mitigation and management procedures to ensure swift and appropriate response in the unfortunate occurrence of such an incident. Lastly, we remain committed to dialoguing on initiatives that nurture respectful and responsible use of technology. In conclusion, it is our collective understanding that community is not built in isolation but through deliberate action. With this collective understanding, may I invite each one of us to be vigilant, compassionate, and proactive. Let us openly discuss with our precious young people the risks of AI misuse, what to do if exposed to deepfakes about themselves or others – the shared responsibility of reporting harmful content and standing with those who are affected. Only together can we ensure that technology remains a productive tool and serves our shared purpose – to see every community member known, valued, and safeguarded in both the physical and digital space. Community is not built in isolation but through deliberate action. To reflect the unity of Acts 4, we invite our school family to be vigilant, compassionate, and proactive. Let us share knowledge by speaking openly about the risks of AI misuse, share responsibility by reporting harmful content, and share support by standing with those who are affected. Only together can we ensure that technology serves our shared purpose: to see every learner known, valued, and safeguarded, in both physical and digital spaces. For assistance or to report image-based abuse, contact our staff at school, visit eSafety.gov.au/report, or call the Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800. May we press on as ‘one in heart and mind’, confident that community and collaboration remain stronger than any technology that seeks to discourage and divide. God bless our school, state, and country. Emmanuel! Lifeas Kapofu – Principal
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