Social media changed the way we view privacy. There was a time, not so very long ago, where the very idea of putting your legal identity online – in any form, name, image, location – was considered the worst thing you could do. It would lead to hacking, critics said. Identity theft and impersonation. Harassment and abuse. And every single one of these, along with a few others that weren’t accounted for at the start like bots, has occurred since the advent of sites like Facebook, Instagram and X (back when it was Twitter). Having one’s identity known meant it could be profited from. Data collection and the birth of the algorithm came along, shifting the focus in online communities irrevocably. It’s no longer about seeing what your friends are up to or keeping in touch with them. It’s all about targeting, whether that is for ads or feed. And into that algorithmic trough went our personal data, often without much protection. People tag each other in posts, share the locations they’ve visited, tell the world what they’re doing or have an opinion on.
Now we’re in a generation of people who have never known an internet any other way. No chronological filtering option remains on Facebook, for instance. If you want to see what your friends are posting about, you have to go to their own profile page. Otherwise your feed is an amalgamation of what Meta, Facebook’s owner, chooses for you, with seemingly no input from the user. One can tell the algorithm that something is not to their liking, but even that doesn’t actually stop it. It will merely ‘show you less’ of it, which I’ve noticed is not particularly effective. I am still regularly recommended things I’ve attempted to filter out. And not just on Facebook, YouTube is equally as guilty of this. I presume that’s the case on other platforms as well (I don’t use much social media; the only way to stay truly private these days is not to play). AI use increases the security concerns. Deepfakes abound, with controversies like that of X’s Grok becoming headlines in mainstream news.
On July 7th, Instagram introduced Muse, an AI image generator, with every adult user automatically opted in. Among its features was the ability to create new pictures using other people’s photos. The backlash was immediate and loud. One, no one consented to this. Two, it was rolled out without notification for account owner’s when their images were being used by it. One could opt out of the tool, but only by setting their profiles to private, meaning only followers could see the account’s content. Not a great option for those who use Instagram as a professional space, which numerous small business owners do. And really, not a great option in general, as it defeats some of the purpose of having social media accounts in the first place.
Just days later, Meta has discontinued this feature. It wasn’t just users complaining about the tool; unions like SAG-AFTRA criticized it along with individual high profile celebrities and privacy advocates. The statement by SAG-AFTRA says they applaud the decision, calling it the responsible thing to do considering the dangers of non-consensual digital replicas being so well known.
And that’s exactly it. I find myself wondering who the hell gave this the green light? Meta’s own statement about the discontinuation says they know the feature ‘missed the mark’. I think it’s more accurate to say it wasn’t even in the same targeting range. I’d love to say that perhaps collectively social media giants have learned a lesson here. But I am not that optimistic. Foisting generative AI on the userbase will continue, in one form or another. And most likely without any protection of our privacy and intellectual property, given the trend of these companies to treat people's images and data as raw material to be exploited, as stated by Privacy International to the BBC. All we can do is keep being vocal about our distaste for it. Or better yet, stop using their products.
