"What Did They Do With My Instagram Photos Without Even Notifying Me?"... Meta Halts Feature Amid Backlash

AI Image Generation Feature Based on Public Instagram Photos, "MuseImage"

Withdrawn After Three Days Amid Growing Privacy Concerns

Meta announced that it would discontinue its feature that generated artificial intelligence (AI) images using public photos from Instagram, just three days after its initial launch.

On July 10 (local time), Meta announced via its official blog that it would no longer offer the "Instagram account mention (@·mention)" service, one of its AI image generation functions. This feature allowed users of the Meta AI application to tag specific public Instagram accounts, enabling the AI to generate new images based on photos uploaded to those accounts.

However, as soon as this new feature was launched on July 7, it sparked strong criticism. Any adult user with a public account could have their photos used for AI generation without their consent. Furthermore, the service employed an "opt-out" system, meaning all users were automatically exposed to the feature and would have to manually disable it to prevent their photos from being used. Critics pointed out this was problematic because it did not require users to actively opt in, but rather forced them to opt out if they did not want to participate.

In addition, individuals were not notified if their photos were used by others to create AI-generated images. As a result, concerns grew that this could lead to serious personal information violations, including digital sex crimes or identity theft.

The Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) also voiced strong opposition. The union sharply criticized Meta, stating, "A system that does not require clear, prior consent underestimates the risks of non-consensual digital replicas and demonstrates a complete misjudgment of public sentiment about the inherent and obvious dangers and harm."

Meta explained, "The intention was to provide users with a useful creative tool and give them direct control over how their public content is referenced." However, the company also said, "Immediately after launch, the feature failed to meet user expectations, and various concerns were raised during its operation, so we decided to swiftly discontinue the service."

Meanwhile, since the widespread adoption of AI, features that allow AI modification of real people have repeatedly been misused to create defamatory images or for sexual harassment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.