A viral post claiming to prevent Meta from accessing users’ personal information has gained traction on social media, with celebrities like Julianne Moore, Sarah Paulson, and James McAvoy among those who shared it. Originating in early September, the message—starting with “Goodbye Meta AI”—has been reposted by over 600,000 users, including notable figures such as Tom Brady and Ashley Tisdale.
The misleading message warns that failure to share the post could lead to legal consequences, suggesting that as Meta is now a public entity, users must declare their disapproval of data usage by posting similar statements. The post reads: “If you do not post at least once, it will be assumed you are okay with them using your information and photos. I do not give Meta or anyone else permission to use any of my personal data, profile information, or photos.”
However, the BBC reports that many of these messages have been flagged as “false information” by Lead Stories, a fact-checking organization partnered with Meta. This misinformation appears to have emerged in response to Meta’s June announcement regarding the use of public posts to train its AI model. The company has clarified that sharing such a post does not affect users’ privacy settings.
Lead Stories has stated, “Does posting a statement ensure that users of Meta services will not have their data used in Meta’s artificial intelligence training? No, that’s not true.” Users in Europe can opt out through their account settings, but posting the viral message has no impact on data usage for AI training.