Viral post falsely claims to stop Meta using your data to train AI – here’s how to actually stop it
Hundreds of thousands of Instagram users, including actors Julianne Moore and Ashley Tisdale, have shared a post that supposedly revokes Meta’s right to train its artificial intelligence tool using their information.
“Goodbye Meta AI,” it says before saying the user does “not give Meta or anyone else permission to use any of personal data, profile information or photos”.
It doesn’t work.
The viral Instagram story, which was also shared by England cricketer Jonny Bairstow, is actually repurposed from an old, equally ineffective meme and Meta sources confirmed to Sky News it does not count as a valid form of objection to their new AI policies.
Fact-checkers have flagged the post as “false information”. Pic: Instagram
It is now being flagged as “false information” by fact-checkers on Instagram.
However, there is a simple way to object that Meta has to honour.
Meta AI is coming
Over the next few months, Meta will start using public posts and information on UK Instagram and Facebook accounts to train its artificial intelligence, Meta AI.
The new rules were supposed to roll out in June but Meta was forced to delay them to deal with changes demanded by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Now, because of those changes, the way you can object is “even simpler, more prominent and easier to find”, according to Meta.
Pic: Reuters
How to object
In the coming days, Facebook and Instagram users will start receiving notifications explaining what is changing and how to access the objection form.
If a user has already objected through the old form, they will not receive a notification.
That’s because Meta says it will “honour their choice” and they will be excluded from the training data by default.
The objection form itself has been simplified from its previous version.
It now takes three clicks and only requires an email address to revoke access to your data.
Anything that is not public on your account, like private posts and messages, will already be excluded from the data used to train Meta AI.
Similarly, private accounts and accounts of under-18s will also be excluded.
You can also object before you receive the notification by going to the Meta’s “privacy centre” in your settings and clicking on the “object” hyperlink at the top.
Meta isn’t immediately joining new EU AI pact
While Meta has tweaked its AI policy for UK accounts, some say it is holding out in the European Union (EU) because it is not joining a new pact for companies using AI.
Earlier in the year, the EU passed a groundbreaking set of laws called the EU AI Act.
Read more: What is the EU’s new Artificial Intelligence Act?
It regulates how AI can be used, and grades different AI uses based on their risk to society.
All companies operating in the EU, including Meta, have to abide by the rules which are slowly coming into force.
Meta says it “welcomes” the new “harmonised” rules.
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However, an interim set of guidelines has been launched called the EU AI Pact, which hopes to get businesses following the new laws without waiting for them to come into full force.
Signatories pledge to commit to governance strategies that comply with the AI Act, identify high-risk AI systems in their business and promote AI literacy among staff.
Over a hundred companies signed up to the pledge, which was announced on Wednesday – but not Meta.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
In a statement to Sky News, the company said it is “focusing on our compliance work under the AI Act at this time” but did not rule out joining the pact in the future.
“We also shouldn’t lose sight of AI’s huge potential to foster European innovation and enable competition or else the EU will miss out on this once-in-a-generation opportunity.”
World
Arrest warrants issued for Israeli PM Netanyahu and former defence secretary Gallant and senior Hamas commander over alleged war crimes
Arrest warrants have been issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence secretary Yoav Gallant and a senior Hamas commander by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The warrants against the senior Israeli figures are for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza that Israel launched following the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
The prime minister’s office said the warrants against him and Gallant were “anti-semitic” and said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions”.
Another warrant was issued for the arrest of Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Al Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, was the mastermind behind the 7 October attacks. It is unclear if he is still alive, following an airstrike that Israel claimed killed him earlier this year.
Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC. Israel has rejected the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden described the warrants against Israeli leaders as “outrageous”, adding “whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas”.
Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were a “mark of shame” for the ICC.
The court originally said it was seeking arrest warrants for the three men in May for the alleged crimes and today announced that it had rejected challenges by Israel and issued warrants of arrest.
The new UK Labour government said in the summer it would not oppose the ICC’s right to issue the warrants.
Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the UN general assembly. Pic: Reuters
Warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant
In its update, the ICC said it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged crimes.
These, the court said, include “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
Netanyahu previously spoke of his “disgust” at the suggestion the ICC would seek an arrest warrant for him.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the ICC’s decision sent a “terrible message”.
“The court has minimised how Hamas fights – deliberately from within civilian infrastructure and cruelly using Palestinian civilians as human shields, tragically leading to many casualties,” the board said.
“Democratic governments, and people around the world, should consider how they would have responded to an October 7th perpetrated against their country, involving mass murder, rape, and hostage-taking.
“We should all be focused on defeating the Hamas terrorists, liberating the hostages, ensuring that civilians in Gaza receive all necessary aid and working towards a sustainable peace for Israelis and Palestinians to prevent these horrible conflicts in the future.
“The decision of the ICC is counter-productive in all these respects.”
Read more:
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A video released by Hamas in 2005 shows a man identified as Mohammed Deif. Pic: AP
Warrant for Hamas leader
The ICC also said it has issued an arrest warrant for Hamas leader Al Masri, saying it has “reasonable grounds to believe” that he is responsible for crimes against humanity including murder, extermination, torture, rape, as well as war crimes including taking hostages.
Discussing the 7 October attacks, the court said: “In light of the coordinated killings of members of civilians at several separate locations, the Chamber also found that the conduct took place as part of a mass killing of members of the civilian population, and it therefore concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of extermination was committed.”
In its statement, the ICC said the prosecution was not in a position to determine whether Al Masri is dead or alive, so was issuing the arrest warrant.
The court previously said it was seeking an arrest warrant for Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas who was subsequently killed in July.
The home secretary has refused to say if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he landed on British soil after an international arrest warrant was issued for him.
On Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli defence secretary Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza.
But Yvette Cooper said the ICC, which the UK is a member of, is independent and while the government respects that, it “wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment” on the processes involved.
She told Sky News: “We’ve always respected the importance of international law, but in the majority of the cases that they pursue, they don’t become part of the British legal process.
“What I can say is that obviously, the UK government’s position remains that we believe the focus should be on getting a ceasefire in Gaza.”
However, Emily Thornberry, Labour chair of the foreign affairs committee in parliament, told Sky News: “If Netanyahu comes to Britain, our obligation under the Rome Convention would be to arrest him under the warrant from the ICC.
“Not really a question of should, we are required to because we are members of the ICC.”
The government said after winning July’s election it would not oppose the ICC’s right to issue the warrants.
An ICC arrest warrant was also issued for Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri, the mastermind behind the 7 October attacks in Israel, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel claims Al Masri was killed earlier this year but the ICC said that has not been confirmed, so it was issuing the arrest warrant.
Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant (right) have arrest warrants against them. File pic: Reuters
Netanyahu’s office said the warrants against him and Gallant were “anti-semitic” and said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions”.
Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC. Israel has rejected the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden described the warrants against Israeli leaders as “outrageous”, adding: “Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.”
Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were a “mark of shame” for the ICC.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the ICC’s decision sent a “terrible message”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday he would invite Netanyahu to visit Hungary and he would guarantee the arrest warrant would “not be observed”.
However, both France and Italy signalled they would arrest Netanyahu if he came to their countries.
Read more:
What satellite images tell us about North Gaza
Hamas ready for Gaza ceasefire ‘immediately’
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Why have arrest warrants been issued?
The ICC originally said it was seeking arrest warrants for the three men in May for the alleged crimes and on Thursday announced that it had rejected challenges by Israel and issued warrants of arrest.
In its update, the ICC said it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged crimes.
These, the court said, include “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
It is the first time a sitting leader of a major Western ally has been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by a global court of justice.
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