Digital Harm Brief: Fake school pages

What are fake school pages?

Fake school pages are accounts set up using a school’s name, logo, or photos to appear connected to the school — but they are not official and instead controlled by another person or entity.

These school impersonation pages may:

• Share videos of fights between students
• Post rumours, gossip, or ‘confessions’ about students and teachers
• Post images or mugshots of teachers and students without consent
• Spread bullying, harassment, or harmful jokes
• Pretend to be an official school page when they are not

Although some of these pages may seem like ‘entertainment,’ they often cause serious harm to students, staff, and the wider school community.

What’s the harm?

Fake school pages can cause a wide range of harm:

• Bullying and humiliation: Students or teachers may be targeted with cruel posts, fight videos, or memes that cause shame and distress.
• Reputation damage: Using the school’s name or logo — or spreading false information — damages trust and harms the school’s reputation.
• Privacy breaches: Fight videos, personal images, or private conversations are often shared without consent.
• Encouraging violence: Pages that glorify fights or conflict can escalate harmful in-person behaviour.
• Harassment of staff: Rumour pages and memes about teachers can cause both professional and personal harm.
• Loss of community trust: Parents and whānau may believe harmful content represents the school and the school’s values, undermining safety, trust, and relationships.

Many of these behaviours or pages may breach the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015, which protects individuals from serious emotional harm caused by digital communications.

What can schools do?

• Record evidence:
  • Save screenshots, URLs, usernames, and dates of posts.
  • Do not repost harmful content — even to raise awareness — as this spreads the harm further.
• Report to the platform:
  • Use the platform’s reporting tools to flag impersonation, bullying, harassment, or harmful content.
  • Request that the account is removed. Netsafe can review the content and help escalate reports if platforms are slow to act.
• Support students and staff:
  • Provide care for anyone targeted or named on the page.
  • Reassure them it is not their fault and explain the steps being taken.
  • Address behaviour of students who may have created, shared, or promoted the page.
• Communicate with parents and whānau:
  • Let families know if a harmful page exists.
  • Encourage them not to follow, share, or engage with the content.
  • Provide guidance on reporting the page and explain how Netsafe can help.
• Escalate serious harm:
  • If the page contains threats, sexual content, or private images, it may break New Zealand law.
  • Contact Netsafe for advice under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015.
  • Contact NZ Police if concerns for safety, or if the harm is severe or involves criminal activity.
• Educate and prevent:
  • Use the incident to discuss digital citizenship, consent, and respect.
  • Remind students that creating or sharing harmful accounts has real life consequences.
  • Build ongoing lessons on kindness, empathy, and online responsibility.

Key takeaways for schools

• Act quickly to report and remove fake or harmful accounts.
• Provide support for any students or staff who are targeted.
• Keep parents and whānau informed.
• Use incidents as a teaching moment about safe and respectful online behaviour.
• Contact Netsafe for free expert advice and support.

Need help?

If you, your students, or staff are experiencing issues with online harm, Netsafe can help. We provide free, confidential, and non-judgemental advice.

You can get in touch with us:

• Call toll-free on 0508 NETSAFE (0508 638 723) within New Zealand
• Call +6496660840 if calling from overseas
• Email [email protected](mailto:[email protected])
• Report online(https://report.netsafe.org.nz/)
• Text ‘Netsafe’ to 4282