Overview
- Meta launched Muse Image in early July as an image‑generation tool built into Meta AI, Instagram Stories and WhatsApp that could reference public Instagram accounts for prompts.
- The rollout automatically enrolled every public Instagram account by default and required users to opt out in Settings > Sharing and reuse to prevent their photos from being reused.
- Multiple users reported the opt‑out toggle re‑enabling itself, and security firms warned the feature could lower the barrier to impersonation, scams and deepfakes.
- Following pressure from talent agencies, unions and privacy advocates, Meta said Friday it disabled the Instagram public‑account referencing capability but kept the core text‑to‑image Muse Image model operational.
- The change does not remove images already generated, opt‑out controls remain the primary remedy, and the episode raises legal and regulatory exposure under rules such as the EU’s GDPR.