If you’ve been checking Instagram Stories this week, you’ve probably seen the post: a black text box on an orange background that begins with the words “goodbye Meta AI.”
From there, the message goes on to proclaim that — per the guidance of an unnamed lawyer — Meta does not have permission to use the poster’s “personal data, profile information or photos.”
But there’s nothing legally binding about this statement. Sharing it will do nothing to protect you or your data, and users may now see the post labeled “false information” if they try to view it. Here’s what you need to know.
What is this thing? It feels familiar.
Hoaxes like this one are as old as time — or at least as old as a time with the internet. In online parlance they are known as copy pasta, a term that comes from the way the style uses a block of text that is copied and shared over and over. Think back to the chain emails of the early online era, the ones that threatened 15 years of bad luck if you didn’t forward them to 15 friends. This A.I. post is just the latest iteration of the same junk.
Why am I seeing it now?
These types of posts circulate every few months, tricking users who are concerned about their privacy online. The boilerplate text is easy to share, which makes them spread rapidly and widely. And they prey on people’s fears about what may happen when they share parts of their personal lives on big tech platforms.
Who fell for this?
Hundreds of thousands of people shared the image on Instagram Stories alone, including celebrities like the actors Julianne Moore, Sarah Paulson and Raven Symone. (Plenty more people posted versions of it on Facebook and on Threads, too.) Users are right to be aware when it comes to digital safety. This post, however, will do nothing. If you were among those who shared it, don’t feel bad. Just delete it.
How can I spot hoaxes in the future?
Grammatical errors and awkward sentences are often a hallmark of copy pasta. It never hurts to do a quick Google search. You may even find that the hoax you’re searching has been previously debunked. A slightly different version of this hoax went viral in May.
What is Meta doing about this?
The post now comes with a false information warning from Lead Stories, Facebook’s third-party fact verification partner. “Fact Check: ‘Legal’ Statement Does NOT Protect User Data From Meta’s Generative A.I. — It’s Made Up,” reads the headline of the article that users can click into when they come across the post on Instagram Stories.
Should I be worried about my personal information on Meta?
No more or less than you were before this hoax started spreading. Earlier this year, Meta announced it was expanding its use of artificial intelligence, training the technology — including its chatbot — by feeding it public Instagram and Facebook posts. As The New York Times reported in June, there aren’t any privacy laws in the United States that are specific to stopping the tech giant from using public posts for these purposes.
You can, however, opt out by setting your account to private. (For more details on how to do that, read this explainer.) And if you get an alert about a change to a platform’s terms of service, it may warrant paying close attention to what the new language says.
The post You Don’t Need to Share That Meta A.I. Post appeared first on New York Times.
