Meta Is Training AI on Creators’ Work in the UK

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September 16, 2024

Meta is resuming AI training on public Facebook and Instagram posts in the UK.

As of Sept. 13, creators and other adults on Facebook and Instagram will receive in-app notifications explaining what’s happening, with directions to opt out of AI training if desired. Unless the users actively opt out, their public content will be used by Meta to train its AI systems.

This announcement comes after Meta’s three-month pause in training its AI in the UK. This pause occurred because of the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The ICO flagged two issues about this process: firstly, how Meta was gaining people’s consent, and secondly, how the company is actually using UK users’ data. This was followed by a similar objection by the Irish Data Protection Commission (IDPC).

Meta claims in a blog post that it has “incorporated regulatory feedback” by developing the option for users to opt out of AI training.

Did the EU Block Meta from AI training?

As TechCrunch reports, the IDPC, which acts as the main privacy regulator in the European Union (EU), also blocked Meta’s plans after numerous data protection authorities across Europe raised their concerns.

Meta has been training its AI products with US data for a while. However, the IDPC’s more stringent privacy rules are proving to be a roadblock in EU countries.

In a statement to TechCrunch, the ICO director of technology and innovation pledged to “monitor the situation” now that this training is officially underway in the UK.

“It is for Meta to ensure and demonstrate ongoing compliance with data protection law,” he said. “We have been clear that any organisation using its users’ information to train generative AI models [needs] to be transparent about how people’s data is being used.”

“Organisations should follow our guidance and put effective safeguards in place before they start using personal data for model training, including providing a clear and simple route for users to object to the processing.”