Hawke\u2019s Bay Today has chosen not to publish the image.<\/p>\n
Netsafe\u2019s chief online safety officer, Sean Lyons, said the problem with images similar to the one in question was not just that they were fake, but that seeing them could cause harm to people.<\/p>\n
AI-generated images could \u201cblur the line\u201d between what was or wasn\u2019t real, especially in high-stress situations. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat can fuel confusion, distress and mistrust. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor communities already dealing with trauma, seeing fabricated scenes can amplify fear or spread false narratives.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said there was a strong demand for information and images in emergencies. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are seeing more of this type of content. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe tools are now widely available and easy to use, and they can generate highly realistic images very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
In New Zealand, there wasn\u2019t a single law that specifically targeted AI-generated images.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead, existing laws apply depending on how the content is used.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf an image is misleading in a way that causes harm, it could be a breach of the Harmful Digital Communications Act.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said repeated exposure to AI content could erode trust in genuine reporting and official information.<\/p>\n
There was a \u201cstrong ethical responsibility\u201d for social media page administrators to be clear about the use of AI. <\/p>\n
\u201cBeing upfront about its origin helps prevent harm. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe value tends to sit in clearly labelled, contextualised use.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sean Lyons, Netsafe’s chief online safety officer, says AI-generated images \u201cblur the line\u201d between what is and isn’t real.<\/p>\n
He said there wasn\u2019t a blanket legal requirement to label AI-generated images, but transparency mattered to audiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cClear labelling helps people understand what they\u2019re looking at and reduces the risk of harm caused by confusion or misinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n
A man who identified himself only as Amos said the Brisbane-based Australia\/NZ Crime TV page was \u201cdedicated to sharing factual stories sourced from police and trusted news platforms\u201d. <\/p>\n
The fake image was used to provide a \u201cvisual representation of the significant police response on Avenue Rd East while the situation unfolded\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand that this is a sensitive time for the Hastings community and the families involved. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur intent was never to cause distress. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe strictly avoid using AI to sensationalise information; our sole focus remains on objective, responsible reporting.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur previous use of AI has been limited to generating general graphics that provide visual context for our stories.\u201d<\/p>\n
The site was reviewing its use of AI to ensure its content remained respectful to those affected by tragedy. <\/p>\n
Cas Carter, New Zealand Police\u2019s executive director of media and communications, said police were deeply concerned about ways in which technology was being used to depict crime scenes.<\/p>\n
One of the main issues was differentiating between AI-generated images and real ones. <\/p>\n
\u201cAI images showing New Zealand Police often depict police officers in a uniform that is not like that of the police uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said there were limited legislative controls on such AI-generated content.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are existing prohibitions on using a police article or uniform (or things that closely resemble one of those) contained in the Policing Act 2008. <\/p>\n
\u201cAdditionally, the Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981 deals with the unauthorised use of state emblems and the New Zealand Coat of Arms. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Films, Videos, and Publications Classifications Act 1993 also criminalises making, possessing or distributing \u2018objectionable\u2019 publications.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that it was an offence under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 to post a digital communication that caused serious emotional distress. <\/p>\n
Police urged people to verify accuracy before sharing crime posts on social media, to confirm whether accredited media outlets were displaying the same images, and to check for inconsistencies.<\/p>\n
Michaela Gower joined Hawke\u2019s Bay Today in 2023 and is based in Hastings. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke\u2019s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hawke\u2019s Bay Today has chosen not to publish the image. Netsafe\u2019s chief online safety officer, Sean Lyons, said…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[98659,1554,11428,95,9556,1975,21933,682,7800,9539,40124,6147,4636,37483,5194,8916,17518,9557,296,76,22176,1073,18433,111,43,139,69,1118,1523,675,80018,312,1439,3168,180,1072,27561,200872,1455],"class_list":{"0":"post-396210","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-aigenerated","9":"tag-alleged","10":"tag-ambulance","11":"tag-and","12":"tag-artificial","13":"tag-at","14":"tag-bags","15":"tag-being","16":"tag-body","17":"tag-content","18":"tag-creator","19":"tag-crime","20":"tag-facebook","21":"tag-fake","22":"tag-hastings","23":"tag-homicide","24":"tag-image","25":"tag-intelligence","26":"tag-into","27":"tag-issue","28":"tag-loaded","29":"tag-media","30":"tag-netsafe","31":"tag-new-zealand","32":"tag-news","33":"tag-newzealand","34":"tag-nz","35":"tag-of","36":"tag-over","37":"tag-police","38":"tag-reviewing","39":"tag-says","40":"tag-scene","41":"tag-shared","42":"tag-shares","43":"tag-social","44":"tag-triple","45":"tag-triplehomicide","46":"tag-warning"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}