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<\/p>\nA 16-year-old girl who became the target of a \u201cnude\u201d photo scandal following a schoolyard break-up has opened up about how the horrifying bullying ordeal still haunts her years later. <\/p>\n
Despite being a high-achieving student, Tarran Frost\u2019s final high school years were marred by relentless harassment, which included her being subjected to cruel rumours, name calling and endless taunting. <\/p>\n
At its worst, a fake pornographic image of the Melbourne teen began circulating around the school, one that featured her face \u2013 taken from a selfie posted on her Instagram \u2013 that was superimposed onto an unknown naked woman\u2019s body.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember someone telling me, \u2018your nude is going around\u2019, and I was so confused,\u201d Ms Frost, now 19, told news.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t understand how that could be possible as there wasn\u2019t any sort of nude in existence.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Because of this Ms Frost feared the photo was actually of someone else, but after a classmate Airdropped her the snap, she was stunned by what she saw. <\/p>\n
\u201cI recognised my face immediately. It was a mirror pic that I\u2019d snapped in my bathroom while wearing my bathers. But I knew in the original I was completely covered,\u201d she explained. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis one had been altered to make it look like I was naked, it was crazy.\u201d <\/p>\n
Initially, Ms Frost said the nude image was so obviously fake, that what upset her the most about the situation was the lengths someone had gone to in order to cause pain. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was more hurt that somebody had gone out of their way to make it,\u201d she shared. <\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe that somebody disliked me so much that they wanted to embarrass me, and had spent time in their day to make it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ms Frost reported the incident to her school, who in turn referred her to the eSafety Commissioner, but ultimately because the photo had never been posted online there was nothing that could be done. <\/p>\n
Shortly after, the situation escalated when a graphic sex rumour (which was also false) that \u201cwent along with the photo\u201d began spreading.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt made things a lot worse. I\u2019d started dating someone new by this point and there were people going up to him at school saying, \u2018Did you know she did this?\u2019 and calling me a \u2018sl*t\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also marked the beginning of the prank calls and a lot of sexually suggestive messages that were flooding my phone, coming from numbers I didn\u2019t know. <\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes my parents would answer the calls and ask for it to \u2018stop\u2019. It was pretty rough.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result, she said she became really anxious, and began experiencing panic attacks \u2013 even on weekends. <\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I\u2019d panic in class and would run to the bathroom and lock myself in,\u201d she explained. <\/p>\n
\u201cEven when I wasn\u2019t at school, I was still suffering. There was one time I was out shopping with my mum and I saw someone from school, and it set me off. <\/p>\n
\u201cI also went through a stage where I was hitting myself. I never did it in front of my friends, it was more at home, but it was something I couldn\u2019t control.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ms Frost said when her symptoms intensified and she developed rashes across her body she began seeing a psychologist who explained \u201cthe bullying was affecting me physically\u201d. <\/p>\n
The nasty comments continued all through Year 11 and 12, with special events such as Ms Frost\u2019s graduation speech ruined when another student blasted an air horn mid-address. <\/p>\n
When she started university, the bullying thankfully stopped, but she soon found the impacts were long-lasting. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re being bullied, it becomes part of you. You know it\u2019s not true, but when people keep saying it, you start to believe it,\u201d Ms Frost explained. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat further complicated it was not being able to pinpoint exactly what was going on.\u201d <\/p>\n
It was only during a seminar on respectful relationships that she uncovered a name for the image-based sexual abuse she endured. <\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t even know it was called a \u2018deepfake\u2019 until my first year of uni. At school, it was just this photo I had to deal with,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
The use of deepfakes has been increasing rapidly in recent years, but even just a short while ago when Ms Frost was in school, it was a relatively new form of digital abuse that many had never heard of. <\/p>\n
In Australia, the laws around creating and distributing deepfake material varies from state to state. <\/p>\n
South Australia and New South Wales have implemented state-level legislation making it illegal to create or distribute non-consensual sexualised or harmful AI-generated deepfakes. Queensland is also actively introducing legislation, while a federal law applies nationwide for sexual deepfakes. <\/p>\n