AI Assisted Digital Peer Aggression and Violence
- The White Hatter
- 7 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Caveat - Earlier this month we published an article “The New Face of Mean-Girl Aggression, AI-Generated Nudes, and Digital Harm. (1) This is a follow up to that article.
The era of AI assisted online digital peer aggression and violence is not approaching, it has arrived. What we are seeing now is not simply hurtful words, mean comments, or tasteless memes that we saw with legacy social media, it is a shift in how harm is created, scaled, and weaponized. Artificial intelligence has lowered the barrier to producing abusive, threatening, and sexually explicit content, and the consequences are increasingly spilling into real life. Not only is this effecting youth and teens, but adults as well.
This matters for parents, caregivers, and educators because digital peer aggression and violence is not virtual in the way many of us were led to believe. It is often the first step in a cycle of escalating harm that can move from screens into schools, homes, and public spaces extremely quickly.
Online peer aggression and violence includes harassment, intimidation, threats, sexual exploitation, humiliation, and the non-consensual creation or sharing of sexual content, and AI has amplified each of these.
Widely accessible generative tools like ChatGPT and Sora, just to name two, have demonstrated how quickly text, images, audio, and video can be generated. While these tools have many positive uses, the same underlying technology is also being used to:
Create sexually explicit deepfake images and videos
Generate threatening, xenophobic, or misogynistic messages at scale
Fabricate realistic impersonations used for harassment or coercion
Produce content designed to humiliate, isolate, or intimidate a target
What once required technical expertise, time, and money can now be done in minutes by someone for free with a smartphone, an internet connection, and access to an AI generation tool.
One of the most dangerous misconceptions parents and caregiver still hear is that online abuse is less serious because it is not physical. In reality, digital peer aggression and violence often acts as the opening move in a wider and more targeted plan.
Online harassment can quickly become a gateway to physical intimidation. Targets may be doxxed, followed, confronted at school, or threatened with real-world consequences. For teens, especially girls and young women, the fear is not abstract. When a deepfake sexual video circulates, the emotional harm, social fallout, and sense of personal safety are very real.
Digital peer aggression and violence does not stay contained on a screen. It reshapes reputations, relationships, mental health, and daily behaviour. Youth and teens change how they dress, where they go, and who they trust because of something that began online. Don’t forget, this can also have a negative personal and professional effects on adults who are targeted as well.
AI has not invented cruelty, but it has changed its scale and speed, given that harm is easier to produce.
The cost, skill, and time needed to create abusive sexual content has collapsed. Deepfake technology no longer requires advanced software or expertise. This increases the likelihood of impulsive harm by peers, not just organized offenders. It is also:
Harder to Disprove
When content looks real, victims are often forced into the impossible position of proving something did not happen. For teens, whose identities and reputations are still forming, this can be devastating.
Harder to Escape
AI generated content can be endlessly copied, altered, and reshared. Even when content is removed, the fear that it will resurface lingers.
Increasingly Gendered
Much of the AI generated abusive content we are seeing is misogynistic in nature. Girls are disproportionately targeted with sexualized deepfakes, threats, and humiliation designed to silence or control.
Telling a youth or teen to ignore online abuse misunderstands how digital spaces function today. Social standing, friendships, romantic relationships, and school dynamics are deeply intertwined with online platforms.
When online peer aggression and violence begins, it rarely appears all at once. It often starts with the creation of abusive or sexualized content. This may take the form of a humiliating image, a sexually explicit deepfake, a manipulated screenshot, or a deliberately cruel message. With AI tools now widely available, this content can be generated quickly and with little effort, sometimes impulsively, without the creator fully grasping the harm it can cause. At this stage, the target may not even be aware that the content exists.
The next stage is distribution within peer networks. Harmful content is shared through group chats, private messages, gaming servers, or social media platforms, often framed as a joke or gossip. Because these spaces feel informal and trusted, the spread can be rapid and difficult to contain. What begins as a single share can quickly multiply, increasing exposure and amplifying humiliation, especially when peers participate by reacting, commenting, or forwarding the material.
As awareness grows, the situation often escalates. Threats, coercion, or intimidation may follow, particularly if the person responsible seeks control or silence. A youth may be told that the content will be shared more widely unless they comply with demands, stay quiet, or withdraw complaints. At this point, the harm shifts from embarrassment to fear, anxiety, and a sense of being trapped.
Eventually, the impact spills into offline life. School becomes a place of stress rather than safety. Friendships change, rumours circulate, and a young person may avoid activities, isolate themselves, or fear encountering those involved. What started online now affects mental health, learning, family dynamics, and a child’s sense of personal safety. This is why online violence cannot be treated as separate from real-world harm.
By the time adults become aware, the youth or teen may already be dealing with anxiety, shame, isolation, or fear of physical confrontation. So what can parents caregivers, and educators do?
Talk Early and Often
Conversations about AI, consent, and digital harm should happen before there is a problem. Youth need to understand that AI generated content can be harmful, and illegal.
Normalize Reporting
Make sure your child knows that coming to you, or another trusted adult, will not result in punishment or panic. Silence protects harm, however, support interrupts it.
Focus on Behaviour, Not Just Tools
Blocking one app does not address the underlying issue. Help youth think critically about how technology can be used to hurt others and what responsibility they carry when they witness it.
Document and Preserve Evidence
If harm occurs, do not rush to delete. Screenshots, URLs, and timelines matter for schools, platforms, and law enforcement.
Advocate for Digital Literacy, Not Fear
AI is not going away. Teaching youth how to recognize manipulation, challenge harmful narratives, and protect their digital dignity is far more effective than trying to ban technology outright.
The most important shift parents and caregivers can make is this, “stop thinking of online harm as separate from real life. For today’s youth, it is part of the same world.”
AI has changed how harm is created, but it has not changed what children need most. They still need informed adults who understand the landscape, listen without judgment, and step in early.
Digital peer aggression and violence is not virtual. The sooner we treat it as real, the better we can protect the people who are most vulnerable to it.
Digital Food For Thought
The White Hatter
Facts Not Fear, Facts Not Emotions, Enlighten Not Frighten, Know Tech Not No Tech
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