Over 600,000 people, including celebrities like James McAvoy and Ashley Tisdale, have fallen for a hoax claiming to protect their privacy on Facebook and Instagram from Meta’s AI training.
The fake message, “Goodbye Meta AI,” spread like wildfire on Instagram stories, falsely stating that sharing the message would prevent Meta from using their information.
In reality, users can opt out of AI training in their account settings, and sharing the hoax has no impact on privacy settings. Lead Stories, a fact-checking site, labeled these messages as false information.
The trend originated from a Facebook post on September 1st but gained momentum when high-profile accounts started sharing it. This resulted in a spike in searches for “Goodbye Meta AI” on Google Trends after September 24th.
This isn’t the first time social media has been flooded with such copied messages declaring privacy rights. Snopes has covered similar instances in the past, but it’s unusual to see so many well-known accounts fall for the hoax.
Other social media companies facing backlash for training AI on public posts include LinkedIn, which reversed its decision in the UK.
While the trend may seem harmless, it highlights the importance of fact-checking before sharing information on social media.
