Meta has rolled out a new artificial intelligence image generator called Muse Image across Instagram, and users are now reporting consent issues with the feature. Users are asking each other to review their settings immediately. The tool lets people create AI-generated images of everyone who has a public account on Instagram, and Meta automatically opted in every public account without asking first.
Instagram users react over automatic opt-in
Tech reviewer Marques Brownlee flagged the rollout on social media, noting that Instagram had opted in every public account by default rather than asking users to switch the feature on themselves. The reaction from users was swift. One user, posting as Aravind, said the feature effectively allows anyone to clone another person's face on Instagram, and recommended users abandon Meta's apps, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, altogether.
Privacy advocates have echoed those concerns. Thorin Klosowski, a senior security and privacy activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told The Guardian that this is the sort of setting that should absolutely be opt-in for Instagram users, since it represents a new use of photos that people have posted publicly for years, one that was never on their minds when they first signed up for the platform.
A blog post from security firm Malwarebytes noted that Meta describes Muse Image as a way to make AI image generation more personal by letting people reference public Instagram accounts in their prompts, but added that the feature is less appealing once applied to someone else's account rather than one's own.
Toggle keeps turning back on, users say
Several users have reported that even after manually switching the feature off, it re-enables itself without warning. In a screen recording shared on X, one user described the behaviour as diabolical, saying the toggle kept switching itself back on and that the only way to stop it was to make the account private entirely.
What is the new Muse Image feature?
Muse Image allows users to reference public Instagram accounts directly in their prompts, generating new visuals that draw on another person's photos. A Meta spokesperson said the company built the feature with strong controls and safety guardrails from day one, adding that private accounts and those belonging to users under 18 are automatically excluded while adult users with public accounts can opt out through easy-to-use controls.
Meta's promotional material for the tool shows relatively harmless use cases, such as researching seasonal fashion trends, scanning shoppable links for clothing, clearing up a foggy landscape photo, or changing the colour of a flower's petals. A more advanced example shows the tool combining multiple images, such as a specific person, a particular bicycle model and a visual style, into a single customised prompt.
Meta has said the tool includes protections designed to block the generation of content that violates its policies. The company said anyone who comes across an objectionable AI-generated image can report it by pressing and holding on the image and selecting a thumbs-down option. Muse Image is currently available through the Meta AI app and Instagram Stories in the United States, and through WhatsApp in a limited number of countries. Meta has said it plans to expand the tool to Facebook and eventually add similar video-generation capabilities.
How to opt-out of the feature on Instagram?
Users with public Instagram accounts can turn off the feature by opening their profile settings and going to the sharing and reuse controls, where they can disable the option allowing others to reuse their content with Meta's AI features. Making an account private also excludes it from the feature automatically, since Muse Image only draws on content from public profiles. Given the reports of the setting reactivating on its own, privacy advocates suggest users check the toggle periodically to confirm it has not been switched back on.
