📰 NRL reporter speaks out on AI deepfake video using her images

By Tom Rose

New Zealand sports reporter Tiffany Salmond has spoken out after discovering an AI-generated deepfake video made using her photos had been circulated online.

The 27-year-old freelance journalist, who regularly covers NRL games for Fox Sports and Australian radio network Triple M, shared a bikini-clad photo of herself to social media on Monday morning.

Hours later, she learned the image had been manipulated into a deepfake video and shared within anonymous online forums and chats.

“I’ll be honest, it was shocking,” Salmond told the Herald after denouncing the act on social media.

“Having the public profile that I do, especially as a woman working in a male-dominated sport, I’m no stranger to having my looks discussed or being the subject of sometimes perverse conversations.

“But this was the first time it went beyond just chatter.

“To actually see photos of myself - ones I had posted confidently on social media - turned into videos where I’m moving and doing explicit actions, was surreal.”

Salmond, who moved to Sydney earlier this year, said she’s aware of “a handful” of deepfake videos and AI-generated photos that use content from her social media.

While she hasn’t reported the latest incident to the police - referencing the extremely low likelihood of identifying the perpetrator - she was determined to speak out to raise awareness.

“I’m sure the men who created these deepfakes felt smug, thinking they were asserting power by humiliating a woman they saw as confident and self-assured,” Salmond said.

“It was a blatant attempt to undermine my safety and sense of self, and I refused to let it work.”

In her social media post, Salmond stated: “You don’t make deepfakes of women you overlook. You make them of women you can’t control”.

Expanding on that sentiment, Salmond told the Herald that she saw the issue as being fundamentally about power and control.

“There’s a misconception that deepfakes are created out of lust or desire for the target ... But men don’t create deepfakes simply because they’re attracted to a woman.

“If that were the case, we’d see women creating them for Hollywood heartthrobs or men creating them of other men they’re attracted to. That’s not what happens.

“These videos are created because the woman is seen as someone who owns her body, exudes confidence, and doesn’t shrink herself.

“In other words, there’s an imbalance of power, and that’s what makes some men uncomfortable.”

Salmond believes her presence in a male-dominated sport has made her a target, but only because she brings her “full authenticity and femininity into it unapologetically”.

Although Salmond said most of the public response had been supportive - “not just from women, but from men as well” - she’s calling for more men to speak up against this behaviour.

“The men who create these deepfakes aren’t driven by the content itself - they’re driven by the reaction,” she said.

“But if men start calling it out for what it is - sick, perverted, socially inept behaviour - then no one will want to be seen creating, liking or sharing them.”

The rising concern around deepfakes
Salmond’s case is one of a growing list of women in sport being targeted by AI-generated abuse.

Just weeks ago, NRLW player Jaime Chapman condemned doctored content made from one of her bikini photos.

Sharing the undoctored image to her story, the 23-year-old called AI’s capabilities “scary” and said she wanted to shine a light on how damaging such content can be.

“This has happened a few times now and it needs to stop.”

In January 2024, X blocked its users from searching for Taylor Swift after pornographic AI-generated deepfake images of the pop singer began flooding the platform.

Meanwhile, former Shortland Street actor Martin Henderson said he was concerned “how vulnerable many people will be” to deepfake scams after the Herald revealed several women had been tricked by scammers into thinking they were romantically involved with him.

While those in the public eye tend to be the primary targets, AI’s use has proliferated to the point that everyday Kiwis are now falling victim to scams and misinformation fuelled by the technology.

In 2024, a Taranaki grandmother was defrauded of $224,000 by scammers who used an AI-generated deepfake video depicting Christopher Luxon encouraging pensioners to invest in Bitcoin.

University of Otago endocrinologist Sir Jim Mann spoke out weeks later after a friend alerted him to a Facebook page that had manipulated his image to promote unsubstantiated medical advice to type 2 diabetes patients.

Mann said the video, which encouraged patients to stop taking Metformin and use alternative natural medicines instead, was deeply troubling - especially considering his own friends were duped.

“There were some really very reasonable, intelligent people who had completely taken it, including people that I know well ... goodness knows how many people have been taken in.”

The overwhelming majority of deepfake victims are women, and the issue is rapidly evolving with AI.

Research from the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre showed New Zealand participants were the least confident (48%) globally in their ability to identify AI-generated content.

Last year, Mastercard found 29% of Kiwis and 19% of businesses had been targeted by deepfake scams over a 12-month period, with estimated losses in the tens of millions of dollars.

Furthermore, Netsafe recently flagged deepfake imagery as a top concern related to the 68% increase in sextortion cases reported in early 2025.

Salmond said she’s speaking out not because she’s less affected, but because many women in her position feel powerless to do so.

“Having a deepfake made of an innocent photo is incredibly violating and frightening for most women - and rightly so.

“While I personally haven’t felt the full emotional weight of it this time, I want to use my voice to speak up for the women who do.”
 
This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.