JAKARTA: Hundreds of students from SMAN 11 Semarang High School in Central Java staged a protest on Friday (Oct 24) demanding justice for more than a dozen classmates who were allegedly victimised in a deepfake pornography case.
The students accused school officials of failing to respond seriously or transparently to the incident and of not providing adequate support for the victims. “So far, neither the Central Java Education and Culture Agency nor the school principal has been actively involved in reporting the case to the police or engaging with the victims,” said student representative Albani Telanae on Tuesday, as quoted by Kompas.com.
“They’ve only given victims a channel to report the case, without taking real action or offering genuine support. That’s why so many victims are still afraid to come forward,” Albani added.
Friday’s protest was the second held by students this week. A similar demonstration took place on Monday, with students making the same demands for accountability, transparency and protection for the victims.
The case began earlier this month when a social media user shared deepfake pornographic videos featuring the faces of teachers and students from SMAN 11 Semarang on X, using the caption “Scandal Smanse,” referring to the school’s nickname.
The videos quickly went viral, sparking widespread public outrage. A group of victims later conducted their own investigation and identified the alleged perpetrator as Chiko Radityatama Agung Putra, a former student of SMAN 11 Semarang who is currently enrolled at the Faculty of Law, Diponegoro University, in Semarang.
The group reportedly visited Chiko’s residence, where they allegedly found photos of teachers and students that had been digitally altered into pornographic material using artificial intelligence (AI).
On October 14, Chiko posted a public apology video on the school’s official Instagram account, admitting to editing and sharing the photos and videos without permission. Over the weekend, 15 students and alumni of the school filed a police report against Chiko with the Central Java Police.
The victims’ legal representative, Jucka Rajendhra Septeria, revealed that based on the files found on Chiko’s devices, there may be many more victims who have yet to come forward, possibly as many as 30 people.
“Not all of the victims personally knew the perpetrator. Some were only connected as mutual followers on Instagram, while others had no idea why their faces appeared in the content,” Jucka said.
He added that the images used in the deepfake videos were taken from the victims’ personal social media accounts as well as from photos of school activities uploaded to a publicly accessible Google Drive link shared after school events.
Central Java Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Artanto confirmed that authorities are working to determine the exact number of victims in the case. “We will thoroughly investigate this deepfake case to its roots,” Artanto said on Thursday, as quoted by MetroTV.
He added that the police have questioned at least 10 witnesses so far and plan to consult experts in law, information technology, digital forensics and sociology to support the investigation. Artanto also pledged that the investigation would be carried out “transparently and professionally,” after confirming reports that Chiko’s parents are members of the Semarang Police.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Abdul Mu’ti said the SMAN 11 Semarang Deepfake Incident should serve as a wake-up call for the education sector to look beyond technical proficiency in teaching artificial intelligence.
“Education on moral responsibility in using AI must be reinforced to ensure the technology is applied for good. The advancement of AI must always go hand in hand with a strong emphasis on ethics,” Mu’ti said on Wednesday. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
