The Goodbye Meta AI scam explained that's been dominating your social channels

A colour photo of the illustration of the logo of US online social media and social networking service Facebook (C), the US instant messaging software Whatsapp's logo (L) and the US social network Instagram's logo (C) are displayed on a smartphone screen on March 14, 2022, in Glastonbury, England.
-Credit: (Image: 2021 Matt Cardy/Getty Images)


Hundreds of thousands of people, including celebrities and sports stars, have been sharing a hoax that claims to deny Meta the right to use their posts to train artificial intelligence.

More than 600,000 people have shared the post that claims to stop Meta, the owners of Facebook and Instagram, from using their accounts to train its AI systems.

The post says: "Goodbye Meta AI. Please note an attorney has advised us to put this on, failure to do so may result in legal consequences. 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. I do not give Meta or anyone else premission to use any of my personal data, profile information or photos."

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However, nobody using Facebook or Instagram has needed to make this post, which will have no impact on the AI settings, as they can opt out of the training through their Account settings page.

The post has been shared by a wide range of celebrity accounts in the past week, including actor James McAvoy and NFL star Tom Brady.

A Meta spokesperson told the BBC: “Sharing this story does not count as a valid form of objection."

Meta announced that it would be training its AI on public posts made on its platforms earlier this year in June.

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