Teachers across Northern Ireland are increasingly being covertly recorded and photographed without consent, with growing fears that such footage can be edited or manipulated using artificial intelligence, creating a climate of fear and harassment, the NASUWT Northern Ireland Annual Conference will hear.
Pupils and parents are secretly filming teachers without consent, with some recordings subsequently altered using AI tools to fabricate audio, distort events or create deepfake-style content designed to damage staff professionally and personally.
A motion set to be debated at the Conference near Belfast on Saturday warns that current school policies are wholly inadequate for the scale and sophistication of the threat.
Members will highlight how manipulated recordings are being circulated among pupils, parents and wider communities, leaving teachers exposed to false allegations, online abuse and significant mental distress.
A recent trend on TikTok sees recordings of teachers being used and manipulated by AI-generated video to show them shouting and swearing at pupils in their classrooms.
The motion calls for a Northern Ireland‑wide ban on the covert recording of staff, robust disciplinary frameworks for pupils, explicit safeguarding policies covering AI manipulation, strengthened mobile phone restrictions, and investment in digital forensics to help schools identify falsified content.
NASUWT General Secretary Matt Wrack said:
“Teachers are facing a terrifying new frontier of digital harassment. The ability to secretly record, edit or fabricate footage of staff poses a profound threat to their safety, dignity and professional standing.
“No teacher should have their reputation destroyed by a manipulated video or AI‑generated audio. Schools and the Department of Education must act now to protect teachers from this abuse.”
NASUWT National Official Northern Ireland Justin McCamphill said:
“We are hearing from teachers who have been filmed without consent, and we know that pupils now have access to AI tools capable of cloning voices or altering video in ways that are almost impossible to detect.
“Even the possibility of manipulated content being circulated online is deeply distressing for staff. This is completely unacceptable and schools need clear powers to confiscate devices, impose sanctions and respond swiftly to digital misconduct.
“The Department of Education must ensure every school has the tools to identify AI‑manipulated content.”
Recent examples on TikTok include: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNR5fdHXh/ https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNR5fhEag/
The motion is below:
Conference notes with deep concern the increasing number of incidents where students and parents covertly record and photograph teachers without consent, and where such recordings are subsequently edited, manipulated, or distributed in ways intended to damage the reputation, wellbeing, and professional standing of staff.
Conference is alarmed at the growing accessibility of artificial intelligence tools that can edit, fabricate, or convincingly alter audio and video, exponentially increasing the potential for malicious misuse of staff likenesses and voices.
*Conference therefore calls on NASUWT to:
1. Lobby for a NI‑wide ban on covert recording of staff;
2. Demand robust disciplinary frameworks for pupils who record or circulate footage;
3. Ensure safeguarding policies explicitly cover AI manipulation and deepfakes;
4. Campaign for mobile phone restrictions that prioritise staff safety;
5. Lobby for investment in digital forensics and AI literacy;
6. Establish restorative pathways to support victims.
