Holding tech companies accountable for tech-facilitated sexual violence

On the 20th of January 2026, School of Sexuality Education officially deactivated our account on X, formerly known as Twitter. This decision was made in response to personal accounts of X’s new AI bot ‘Grok’ being used to forcibly and unconsensually remove the clothes of women and girls in photographs. As an organisation who serves as a preventative tool against gender-based sexual violence, we no longer want to be a part of a platform that has enabled exactly this kind of abuse. 

The harms enacted on X reflect a concerning trend in AI use for online sexual abuse. It is important to consider that previous developments in technology have come with new ways to perpetuate harms. Tracking apps can be used for safety, but also for manipulation. Social media can be used for genuine connection, but also to spread hate and leak personal information. In our collaborative research project with Prof. Jessica Ringrose, Prof. Kaitlyn Regehr and Betsy Milne, we found repeated patterns of technology facilitating harms like image-based sexual harassment and abuse in young people. Maximising visibility and spreadability are the driving forces of social media, which comes with great risk of reproducing and spreading harm. This is something that leaders in social media have a responsibility to actively regulate with the development of technology, to protect the rights of people who use their services. 

Action was not taken soon enough to stop the sexual abuse created by X’s AI bot. It took pressure from our government to bar this feature, although this came nearly half a year after first reports emerged of ‘Grok’ being used to create deepfakes of women. On the part of the UK government and of those working for X, this was not fast enough, allowing for the online sexual abuse to continue, affecting many more people. It is clear that those with decision making power at X do not have the best interests of its users at heart. 

Image by Evie K

We did consider what it would mean for us to stay on a platform like X and act as a counter-voice in that space. But our focus is on the work we do with young people and educators, delivering in-person inclusive, anti-racist, feminist relationships, health, and sex education (RSHE). We use social media as a space of solidarity, to provide resources and to raise awareness of key issues surrounding RSHE. This does not work in an unregulated space full of hate, misinformation, and mischaracterisation, especially when this very abuse isn’t held accountable. A big part of our work is teaching empathy, equality, and accountability, which a platform like X has repeatedly shown it does not seem to value.

Many educators and caregivers can find the news about platforms like X and AI usage particularly alarming, and we are right to be concerned. Our concern is what makes us hold these tech companies accountable, and demand action from our elected representatives. But in our personal lives, there are many ways we can reclaim our autonomy from these technological spectres.

Firstly, we must recognise that young people have a right to be online. Like any space, there is potential for harm. But our study with young people on their experiences online showed that it can also be an opportunity to access helpful resources, deepen relationships, and reach supportive communities.  Keeping them safe does not involve banning phones and social media. It helps school’s managements but erodes students’ trust and ability to access support. 

Secondly, we must teach young people how to be active bystanders. This means building their understanding of how they can look out for each other as well as themselves. Teaching proper media literacy assists this, helping them navigate online spaces safely and consensually. It’s crucial in preventing harm, teaching young people to be responsible members of their communities.

Finally, we must invest in inclusive, comprehensive RSHE. A key finding in our study, that RSHE is essential for young people to be equipped to navigate online sexual harm and abuse. Most importantly, better digital sex education is something young people are calling for themselves. They understand that knowing what their rights are and how harm is perpetrated allows them to become another voice who can identify when spaces, offline and online, are becoming abusive ones. When big social media giants refuse to regulate the spaces they control, our young people want the tools to self-regulate and keep each other safe.

Here are some things you can do to help equip your child to navigate online spaces: 

• Engage in judgement-free, continuous conversation with them about online spaces, their interests and concerns as well as harms these spaces may pose.

• Help them to understand these online spaces as not just social media but also as businesses with interests other than that of your child’s wellbeing. 

• Teach the importance of consent broadly to include uses of technology.

• Be open to considering your own uses of online spaces—we are all learning constantly as technology develops!

Speak to one of our unembarrassable team members to find out how our work can support you.

How we quality assure our work

Quality assurance is of paramount importance to us here at School of Sexuality Education. We believe our model - an external charity providing relationships and sex(uality) education - currently offers one of the best ways to provide this. Here’s why:

1. RSE is broad and needs multiple experts

Relationships and sex education is a huge subject area, ranging from consent and healthy relationships to puberty and sexual health. It also requires some unique pedagogical approaches, as the RSE classroom is distinct from other learning environments. 

Our team comprises qualified teachers, doctors, those with a background in the sexual and domestic violence response sector, refugee support, psychology and youth work. Many of our team work part-time alongside other relevant work such as completing PhDs in RSE-related research. We also work with world-leading academics in gender and education.

Our curriculum is co-designed by this team of experts, meaning all of the subject areas we cover are accurate and based on best-practice approaches. It’s also informed by input from our youth advisory panel, and ongoing feedback from young people during our workshops.

Image by Deeanna J

2. Our programme development process is an iterative one

We have a suite of workshops that our team is trained up to deliver. They then go into schools, deliver these same lessons repeatedly, and then come back together as a group to reflect on what’s working well and what needs improvement.

Not only does this mean that they become highly competent at delivering our workshops in a succinct and engaging way, but it also means that our curriculum is being constantly reviewed according to student, teacher and team feedback.

3. We're observed by multiple teachers, in multiple schools, multiple times a week

Teachers are always present during our workshops. This means they can provide feedback either directly to us, or to our lead school contact. Often, a member of our team will deliver the same workshops to five different classes across a day, meaning five different teachers see the lesson and can discuss together afterwards.

This provides a level of scrutiny that it would be unusual to see replicated in a regular school set-up. Meanwhile, we have a re-booking rate of 85%, indicative of the approval of teachers that see us in action!

Alongside this, we also have an internal observation system, whereby we regularly observe and provide feedback to colleagues to help them continually develop their classroom practice.

4. We have greater capacity to discuss, reflect and develop.

Unlike an in-house member of staff, who will often be asked to deliver RSE alongside their main subject specialism, our team is solely dedicated to thinking about, discussing and reflecting on relationships and sex education. This level of immersion results in enhanced teaching confidence, knowledge and creativity of practice.

5. We hire facilitators with existing expertise and provide them with ongoing training

We specifically hire those with both a passion for RSE and existing experience in a relevant subject area - for example, medicine, teaching, counselling or youth work. We then provide them with training and shadowing before they begin teaching. 

This means that young people will always be taught by someone who is unflappable, knowledgeable and is passionate about the aims of RSE.

Speak to one of our unembarrassable team members to find out how our work can support you.

Tackling the rise of deepfake use among young people: why we need actual solutions, not ‘tech abstinence’

Recently, the Guardian published a story on the worrying rise of deepfake pornography and nudes in schools affecting predominantly young girls in schools. With the rise and accessibility of tech, we should be talking about the rise in deepfakes in schools and the very real harms it creates. 

School of Sexuality Education’s CEO, Dolly Padalia was quoted in the article and shared an incident of harm that happened in school. While it’s important to highlight the scale of harm, it’s also important to take a nuanced look beyond dramatic headlines. We must critically evaluate any solutions posed to tackle the issue of image-based sexual abuse in young people, including suggestions to ban phones for children or the introduction of new laws. As solutions go, we should be looking at how education can be used as a tool to combat sexual violence. 

Image by Evie K

We can’t depend on the law and policing to “fix” the problem

It is tempting (and a common approach) to tell young people not to share any nudes because it is illegal, but when we frame the law in this manner, we create a culture of victim blaming and inadvertently make it less likely for young people to come forward and seek support from adults by making them feel shame for using technology, or taking a nude, in the first place.

Sure, laws and policing may have their place, but can we solely rely on them? Especially when our current laws are failing to hold social media companies responsible and police are regularly found to be misogynistic, and have little success in solving cases of sexual violence. 

It was also striking how the article spoke about the confusion teachers felt about tackling harm from deepfakes — do we use exclusions or restorative justice approaches? Perhaps restorative justice is worth exploring seriously in our school system. An approach that centres the voices of victim-survivors can empower them to move forward, rather than expecting young people to go back into the classroom with the perpetrators of harm, who can be fellow pupils or even friends, and continue as normal.

Phone bans are not a solution 

As adults who want to protect young people, imposing a ban might make us feel better, but does it work? Let’s take the most popular policy proposal floating around in the UK at the moment: Phone bans in schools. One of the largest studies of its kind  in the UK found that school phone bans had no impact on sleep, behaviour or overall phone use compared to schools without a ban. 

The genie is out of the bottle now, so it’s highly unlikely society will return to a time without smartphones and AI. Even in a world where complete smartphone bans could be enforced for under-18s, eventually, they will need to learn to interact with these technologies in a healthy way. Bans may only work to delay the inevitable rather than provide any meaningful solutions to the issue of misogyny and sexual violence in our society.

And is it fair to remove access to phones for young people when this technology can give them a voice, access to information and maybe even a sense of safety, just because other people are trying to harm them? We should be targeting the people who do harm, and the companies that allow them to. 

Adults need support too

In response to The Guardian, the government dutifully rolled out a spokesperson from the Department for Education to give platitudes about “new funded resources to help teachers explain the law and harms relating to online content.” So far, we’ve been unable to find any information on which, if any, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) providers were consulted in the creation of these resources, or even where, when or how teachers can access these. 

Of course, we welcome the government putting more funding into the education system, but we need clear commitments to fund educational approaches that centre young people’s needs. This could include high-quality teacher training, and even workshops for parents, so adults are better equipped to understand the tech landscape and support young people without judgement. 

Educational solutions

As RSE practitioners working with young people, we tackle these issues head-on in schools. We facilitate discussion to help young people make the link between gendered norms and sexual violence, we challenge victim-blaming narratives that normalise harm, and we encourage young people to be active-bystanders in a range of situations, from being in a group chat to witnessing harassment enacted by a friend. 

We also remind young people to trust their feelings about situations that make them feel uncomfortable, and to seek help from adults who, in turn, should take them seriously and offer help and support. All young people should have access to high quality RSE that covers topics like sexual health, consent, media analysis and healthy relationships that emphasise compassion and kindness, to prevent harm from happening.

The Guardian article ends its piece by highlighting how a young person knew to seek support from an adult after learning about online safety in a PSHE lesson, with the simple statement that “education works.” And we agree. 

For more information about our work, email info@schoolofsexed.org.