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Low reported severity Internal Action

Lévis, Quebec: about ten pupils suspended after school says AI-altered photos of staff, one reportedly showing a gun to a staff member's head, circulated online

About ten pupils at a secondary school in Lévis, Quebec, were suspended for up to three days in October 2026 after photos of school staff altered with artificial intelligence circulated between 18 and 21 October in a private messaging group bearing the school's name, according to the Centre de services scolaire des Navigateurs (CSSDN). The CSSDN said the material breached school rules against offensive, defamatory, hateful or violent images. The president of Quebec's school administrators' association, citing the school, said most images were silly but one violent fake showed a staff member with a gun to the head. Pupils who felt uncomfortable reported the images; the pupils who shared them were met by the administration and the school police officer and deleted the material, and their parents were also met. Lévis police say no complaint was filed and they see no criminal element. Which AI tool was used is not reported.

AI system
Unidentified image tool
Occurred
18 Oct 2026 to 21 Oct 2026
Reported
27 October 2026
Event location
Canada
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Reputational Harm
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Education · Work
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources, 3 underlying accounts
7 claims: 7 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 1 person

AI system as recorded: An unnamed artificial intelligence tool that pupils used to alter photos of school staff, according to the Centre de services scolaire des Navigateurs

What Happened

What circulated. The Centre de services scolaire des Navigateurs (CSSDN), the public school service centre, told Noovo Info and Le Soleil that some photos of members of the school's staff were modified by artificial intelligence and circulated on a messaging social network, in a private group bearing the school's name, between 18 and 21 October 2026. CBC and Le Soleil identify the platform as Snapchat. Radio-Canada reports the CSSDN describing the generated images as offensive, defamatory, hateful or violent in nature, the categories the school's rules prohibit. André Bernier, president of the Association québécoise du personnel de direction des écoles, told Radio-Canada, from information obtained from the school, that most of the images could be called silly but that one violent fake showed a staff member with a gun to the temple. Le Soleil's account also says classmates were targeted.

Discovery and response. Pupils who felt uncomfortable reported the situation to staff (CSSDN via CBC and Le Soleil); Le Soleil says the school administration and Lévis police were alerted on 20 October, and Radio-Canada says the administration intervened that day. The pupils who had circulated the images were met by the administration and the school police officer and showed and deleted the material, and their parents were also met. About ten pupils, mostly in the second year of secondary school, were suspended at school or at home for up to three days (CSSDN via Noovo Info and Le Soleil). Quebec's education minister said the school was right to suspend them (CBC).

Police and disputed details. Lévis police were informed; a police spokesperson told Le Soleil that no complaint has been filed and that there is no criminal element. The CSSDN told Noovo Info that it did not complain to police and that no teacher had done so either. Le Soleil reported unconfirmed descriptions of sexualised alterations, which the CSSDN and police would neither confirm nor deny; Radio-Canada reports that the police and the CSSDN say that information suggesting sexual fakes of staff had circulated is unfounded.

AI involvement. The AI attribution comes from the CSSDN, whose school staff and police officer viewed the material on the pupils' phones. The tool used and how the alteration was done are not disclosed.

Reported harm

School staff were depicted without their consent in AI-altered images that the school service centre says breached rules against offensive, defamatory, hateful or violent images; one reportedly showed a staff member with a gun to the head (CSSDN; André Bernier via Radio-Canada and CBC).

Outcome

Resolved

The pupils who circulated the images were met by the school administration and the school police officer and showed and deleted the material, and their parents were also met; about ten were suspended at school or at home for up to three days (CSSDN via Radio-Canada and Le Soleil). Lévis police were informed; no complaint has been filed and the police see no criminal element (Le Soleil). Quebec's education minister said the school was right to suspend the pupils (CBC). No further action is reported as of 29 October 2026.

What remains unknown

  • Which AI tool was used and how the photos were altered.
  • How many staff members and classmates were depicted.
  • Whether any image was sexualised: Le Soleil reported unconfirmed descriptions, while Radio-Canada reports that the police and the CSSDN say no sexual fakes of staff circulated.
  • How the depicted staff members were affected.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The Centre de services scolaire des Navigateurs, whose school administration and police officer viewed the material on the pupils' phones, says photos of staff members were modified by artificial intelligence and circulated among pupils; those altered images, which depicted staff in scenes the service centre called offensive, defamatory, hateful or violent, are the harm. The tool and the technical basis for the attribution are not disclosed.

7 claims: 7 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported According to the CSSDN, some photos of members of the school's staff were modified with artificial intelligence and circulated on a messaging social network, in a private group bearing the school's name, between 18 and 21 October 2026.

Causal attribution. The school service centre's own statement; its staff viewed the material on the pupils' phones. The AI tool is not named.

  • lavoixdelest.ca(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'Certaines photos de membres du personnel de l’école ont été modifiées par l’intelligence artificielle et ont circulé sur un média social de messagerie, dans un groupe privé portant le nom de l’école, entre le 18 et le 21 octobre'
  • noovo.info(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'Certaines photos de membres du personnel de l’école ont été modifiées par l’intelligence artificielle et ont circulé sur un média social de messagerie, dans un groupe privé portant le nom de l’école'
Reported Radio-Canada reports the CSSDN saying the generated images were of an offensive, defamatory, hateful or violent nature, and CBC reports the pupils were suspended for breaching the school's code of conduct that prohibits such images.

Causal attribution. Characterisation by the school service centre, as reported.

  • ici.radio-canada.ca(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'Des images générées étaient « de nature offensante, diffamatoire, haineuse ou violente », selon le Centre de services scolaire des Navigateurs'
  • cbc.ca(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'were suspended for violating the school’s code of conduct, which prohibits posting any "offensive, defamatory, hateful, or violent content or images."'
Reported André Bernier, president of Quebec's school administrators' association, citing information from the school, said most images could be called silly but one violent fake showed a staff member with a gun to the temple.

Causal attribution. Second-hand account from the association president; CBC says teacher, Radio-Canada says staff member.

  • ici.radio-canada.ca(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'Dans la plupart des cas, il s’agissait d’images qui pouvaient être qualifiées de niaiseries'; 'Une photo truquée à caractère violent montrait néanmoins un membre du personnel avec un fusil sur la tempe'
  • cbc.ca(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'one of the fake images posted on Snapchat reportedly showed a gun being held to the head of a teacher'
Reported Pupils who felt uncomfortable reported the images to school staff.

Causal attribution. CSSDN account as relayed.

Reported About ten pupils were suspended at school or at home for up to three days after they were met by the administration and the school police officer and deleted the material.

Causal attribution. The school's disciplinary response, from the CSSDN.

  • lavoixdelest.ca(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'La dizaine d’élèves concernés a été suspendue à l’interne (à l’école) ou à l’externe (à la maison) jusqu’à trois jours'
  • ici.radio-canada.ca(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'Les élèves à l’origine de ces images fabriquées ont été entendus par la direction et la policière-école'
  • noovo.info(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'la mesure concernait une dizaine de jeunes adolescents, surtout de deuxième secondaire'
Reported A Lévis police spokesperson said no complaint had been filed and there was no criminal element; the CSSDN said neither it nor any teacher had complained to police.

Causal attribution. Police and school service centre statements about the legal response.

  • lavoixdelest.ca(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'À l’heure actuelle, aucune plainte n’a été déposée auprès de notre service. Il n’y a pas d’élément criminel là-dedans'
  • noovo.info(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'Le CSSDN n’a pas porté plainte à la police et affirme qu’aucun membre du personnel enseignant ne l’a fait non plus'
Reported Quebec's education minister said the school was right to suspend the pupils.

Causal attribution. Ministerial statement reported by CBC.

  • cbc.ca(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'new Education Minister Joël Arseneau said the school was right to suspend the students'

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 3 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in French by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-29; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); locators are the original French. Radio-Canada report quoting a CSSDN written response and an interview with André Bernier. Applies to s1.

Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-29; no translation needed. CBC report written with files from Radio-Canada; treated as dependent on the Radio-Canada reporting. Applies to s2.

Read in French by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-29; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); locators are the original French. Noovo Info report quoting a CSSDN email. Applies to s3.

Read in French by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-29; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); locators are the original French. Le Soleil report republished by La Voix de l'Est, quoting the CSSDN spokesperson and a Lévis police spokesperson. Applies to s4.

Event countries: Canada. Affected-person countries: Canada. Court countries: Unknown.

The school is a secondary school in Lévis, Quebec, run by the Centre de services scolaire des Navigateurs, and the images circulated in a group of its pupils (Radio-Canada, Noovo Info, Le Soleil). No court is involved.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-29: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): the school service centre, whose staff viewed the material, says pupils altered photos of staff with AI and shared them in a group, and it called the images offensive, defamatory, hateful or violent. The depicted staff's own reactions are not reported.

People described

Teachers and other staff members of a Lévis secondary school whose photos were altered with AI and shared among pupils without their consent; Le Soleil also reports that classmates were targeted

People reported harmed in this case

At least 1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

Additional affected people are described without a reliable count.

One counted: the staff member shown in the violent fake with a gun to the head (André Bernier via Radio-Canada). Other staff members and, per Le Soleil, classmates were also depicted; their number is not stated. The suspended pupils who made or shared the images are not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#ai-altered-images#school-staff#school-discipline#quebec

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Lévis, Quebec: about ten pupils suspended after school says AI-altered photos of staff, one reportedly showing a gun to a staff member's head, circulated online. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-levis-quebec-pupils-suspended-after-ai-altered-images-of-school-staff-circulated-in-snapchat-group

BibTeX

@misc{2026_levis_quebec_pupils_suspended_after_ai_altered_images_of_school_staff_circulated_in_snapchat_group,
  title = {Lévis, Quebec: about ten pupils suspended after school says AI-altered photos of staff, one reportedly showing a gun to a staff member's head, circulated online},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-levis-quebec-pupils-suspended-after-ai-altered-images-of-school-staff-circulated-in-snapchat-group}
}

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