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A group chat you never wrote. A voice note that sounds like you saying something cruel. Your face on a body that is not yours. AI makes all three easy to produce, and they spread fast in a class group. This guide is for the student it happens to, and the parent they tell.
What does AI-generated cyberbullying look like?
It is ordinary bullying with made-up evidence, usually in three forms:
Fake chats: edited or AI-written screenshots of you insulting a friend or confessing to something.
Cloned voice notes: audio made to sound like you or a teacher. Our guide to AI voice clone scams and a family code word explains how these fakes work.
Morphed images: your face placed on another body, often a sexual one.
India's government amended the IT Rules on 10 February 2026 to address harms from synthetically generated information, including deepfakes and AI-generated content (Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Electronics and IT).
How common is cyberbullying among students?
About 1 in 6 school-aged children (15%) reported being cyberbullied in a WHO/Europe study of more than 279,000 young people aged 11, 13 and 15 in 44 countries and regions, up from 2018 (WHO/Europe, March 2024).
In nationally representative surveys covering the 2023-24 school year, the Center for Democracy & Technology found that 15% of US public high school students knew of AI-generated deepfake intimate images showing someone linked to their school (CDT). Of the students who had heard of such images at their school, 51% said girls were more likely to be shown, against 14% who said boys.
We found no comparable Indian figure, so treat these as a warning, not a measure.
What should you do in the first hour?
Do not reply or argue in the group. Anything you write becomes more material.
Save evidence first. Screenshot the message showing the sender, group name, date and time. Save the audio or image file.
Tell one adult you trust today: a parent, teacher or school counsellor. If that feels impossible, read what to do when a child is afraid to tell the teacher about bullying.
Report it in the app, choosing impersonation or nudity where it fits.
Block the account, but only after saving evidence.
Do not forward the fake to prove it is fake. Every forward spreads it.
How do you report a deepfake or fake chat in India?
The official routes below come from the government's 2026 release on deepfakes (PIB).
A fake chat or voice note that mocks you: report it in the app, then give the school your saved evidence in writing.
A fake profile in your name: complain to the platform's grievance officer. The government says the amended IT Rules cut the grievance timeline for sensitive matters, including nudity and impersonation, from 24 hours to 2 hours. If the platform does not act, appeal to the Grievance Appellate Committee at gac.gov.in.
A morphed nude or sexual image: treat it as a crime, not a prank. Report it on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal at cybercrime.gov.in, which has a special focus on cyber crimes against women and children and accepts deepfake reports, or call the 1930 helpline.
Stopping an intimate image from spreading: adults can use StopNCII.org, which makes a digital fingerprint (a hash) on your device, so the image is never uploaded, and accepts deepfakes of you. Under-18s are directed to Take It Down, which also shares only a hash; its site does not mention AI-made images, so report to the police too.
What should parents say when their child shows them a fake?
The first sentence matters most; a child who feels blamed stops telling you. Try:
"Thank you for showing me. I believe you, and you are not in trouble."
"Let's save everything before we do anything else."
"We'll decide together who to tell. I won't post about this or confront anyone without asking you first."
Taking the phone away can feel like punishment for being targeted. Instead, write to the school, ask about its process, and keep copies. To prepare before anything happens, see our guide to talking to your teen about deepfakes and photo sharing.
Tele MANAS, the government's 24x7 toll-free mental health helpline, is on 14416 or 1-800-891-4416 (PIB, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare).
How do you get back to studying afterwards?
A week like this can knock revision off course, and that is normal. Start small: one subject, one short session a day. When you are ready, Fermi's AI tutor can work out what you already know and build a plan for the session, so you sit down to a clear next step instead of a pile of missed chapters.
Save this plan where your family can find it, before anyone needs it.
