“Goodbye Meta AI” message is a hoax, but hundreds of thousands have fallen for it

Facial palm: Once again, social media users are reposting posts in the mistaken belief that doing so will prevent Meta from using their content – ​​in this case, for AI training. The “Goodbye Meta AI” post that mainly appeared on Instagram Stories fooled Tom Brady and James McAvoy, but, like every other viral supposedly copyright-protecting post in history, it is not legally binding, as confirmed by Meta. himself. However, there are other ways to protect yourself from Meta’s AI.

It is estimated that more than 600,000 people have fallen for this hoax, which states that the poster does not authorize Meta or anyone else to use their personal data, profile information or photos. This post was apparently inspired by advice from an anonymous lawyer.

Anyone who has ever seen this sort of thing – there is a long history of similar copypastas on social media – will know that it is a complete waste of time and does nothing to protect people’s content from the platform owner.

Meta has confirmed that viral posting is not a valid means of objecting to its data collection practices. The fact that it’s poorly worded and starts with “Goodbye Meta AI”, probably should have given it away. Some of these posts are now labeled by Meta as “fake news” and link to the fact-checking website Leadstories.com.

Meta said earlier this year that starting June 26, it would use public user content to train and improve its AI services, so it’s easy to understand people’s concerns. European users can opt out by visiting the Meta Privacy Center from their Facebook account, selecting “data settings”, then “off-Facebook activity”. From there, select “Manage your data” and turn off “Data Sharing” and “AI Model Training.”

Instagram users can go to “Settings,” then “About,” and finally “Privacy Policy” to be directed to information on how to unsubscribe.

There doesn’t appear to be a definitive way for US users to prevent Meta from using their posts for AI training, although it’s believed that setting accounts private gives the company fewer opportunities to do so .

A popular copypasta that spread on Facebook in 2016 threatened the company with UCC 1-308-1 1 1 308-103 and the Rome Statute if it made public anything users posted, even documents deleted – there was a rumor at first. time. The Rome Statute is the legal framework established by the International Criminal Court to deal with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, which seems a bit excessive for copyright violations.