Celebrities and sports stars fall for Meta AI data privacy hoax

A hoax image claiming to deny Meta the right to use personal data for training artificial intelligence (AI) models has been reposted by around 600,000 people, including celebrities and sports stars. Among those who have shared the post on Instagram Stories are actors Julianne Moore and Ashley Tisdale, as well as England cricketer Jonny Bairstow.

The post, titled "Goodbye Meta AI", suggests that sharing it will prevent Facebook and Instagram's owner from using the sharer's data for AI training. However, this is not true; posting a story on Instagram does not constitute a valid objection to Meta's data policies.

Instead, users can opt out of AI training via their account settings. The message reads: "Goodbye Meta AI. Please note an attorney has advised us to put this on, failure to do so may result in legal consequences," and "As Meta is now a public entity all members must post a similar statement. If you do not post at least once it will be assumed you are okay with them using your information and photos."

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It also states: "I do not give Meta or anyone else permission to use any of my personal data, profile information or photos."

Many of these posts from high-profile figures have already been partially hidden and labelled as false information by Instagram.

The sudden surge in the post's sharing seems to be a reaction to Meta's announcement last summer that it would utilise public posts on its social media platforms to aid in the development of its AI models.

Earlier this month, Meta confirmed that it would start using data from UK users' public posts to train its AI. However, it assured that it would respect any objections already submitted by users through their account settings and continue to allow users to opt-in in this manner.

To object via Facebook, users can navigate to their settings, choose Privacy Centre, then select the AI at Meta option and choose the "information that you've shared on Meta products and services" option under the subheading "Submit an objection request".

Similarly, Instagram users can submit an objection in the same way by going to Settings, scrolling down, and selecting Privacy Centre.