Meta changes Instagram rules with Muse Image and Muse Video

The social network has updated its terms of use.

Muse Image and Muse Video: Meta’s new generative tools

On Tuesday 7 July, Meta formally announced the rollout of its image-generating AI, Muse Image, alongside a video generator called Muse Video, which is not yet available to the public. In broad terms, the tech giant is following a familiar path, similar to rivals such as OpenAI, Google and xAI.

Instagram: how Meta AI can reuse content from public profiles

The move has nevertheless raised questions. Wired noted, for instance, that if your Instagram account is public, other users may be able to generate images based on your profile. Meta states on its help page:

"If you have a public account, other Instagram users can create new Reels, posts or stories that reuse all or part of your published photos, videos or Reels, via features such as Remix, Sequence, Templates and Stickers. In addition, people can create content from your Instagram posts using Meta’s AI features. Depending on the other user’s settings, this means the reused content may appear in search engine results."

How can you protect your account?

For its part, Gizmodo observed that asking for an image based on the account of a complete stranger can work perfectly well. The outlet reports generating a (harmless) image of someone it is friends with on Instagram. It also says it was able to create an image of a person in their wider circle whom it had never followed and had never interacted with on the platform-without requesting permission.

If you want to switch off this option, the simplest approach is to set your profile to private. Doing so is fairly straightforward in a web browser. In the mobile app, you need to tap the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner and look for the “Sharing and reuse” section. Then select “Allow people to use your content on Instagram and with Meta AI features”, and untick the options for posts and Reels.

Meta’s response on safeguards

In an attempt to calm criticism, a Meta spokesperson told the news site: “Muse Image includes safeguards designed to prevent the generation of content that violates our rules, including violent, sexual or defamatory images depicting real people. Content that breaches our policies-whether reported by users or detected by our systems-is subject to enforcement action in line with our Community Standards.” It is far from certain that users will see that as enough.