Phoenix 24
Public accounts are included automatically unless owners change their settings.
MENLO PARK, UNITED STATES — July 2026. Meta’s new Muse Image system allows users to generate artificial-intelligence images using photographs and videos from public Instagram profiles. Adults with public accounts were enrolled automatically, meaning other people may reference their profiles through Meta AI without notifying them.
Users can disable the feature by opening their Instagram profile, selecting the menu and entering Sharing and reuse. Under the section allowing content to be reused on Instagram and through Meta’s AI features, they must turn off the options for posts and Reels. The wording may vary slightly as the update reaches different regions and app versions.
Changing an Instagram account from public to private also prevents outsiders from using its content through the new image-generation function. Meta excludes private profiles and accounts belonging to users under 18. Individual photographs and videos may also include separate reuse controls.
Disabling the setting limits future AI generations but may not remove images already created or redistributed. It also does not necessarily prevent Meta from processing other material—including text, comments or audio—under separate platform policies. Users should therefore review both their sharing preferences and broader privacy settings.
The rollout has intensified debate over whether consent for AI reuse should be automatic or explicitly requested. Privacy advocates argue that people should not have to discover and disable a feature involving their identity after it has already been activated.
Protecting an image now requires controlling not only who sees it—but what artificial intelligence can create from it.