SAG-AFTRA is telling its members, and every other Instagram user, how to switch off Meta‘s new AI image tool. The union says the feature, called Muse Image, lets anyone turn public Instagram photos into AI-generated pictures without the subject’s consent. It wants people to opt out of the tool before their own images get used.
In a statement released Thursday, the union laid out how members can “dig into Instagram’s settings” to disable the tool. “Meta now lets anyone use your Instagram photos in AI images without your consent,” SAG-AFTRA said. “SAG-AFTRA recommends that #SagAftraMembers (and all Instagram users) opt-OUT of Meta’s new AI image generation tool, Muse Image. Take action to protect your likeness.”
How the Muse Image opt-out works
A Muse user only needs to tag a public or unprotected Instagram account, and its photos instantly become material the AI generator can turn into new images or “remixes.” Once created, those images stay online permanently, which is why SAG-AFTRA is pushing members to disable the feature now rather than after their photos have already been used. For actors and other performers whose careers depend on control over their own image, that permanence is the core of the union’s concern.
The union’s statement follows a separate push from the Creative Artists Agency, which called on Meta to add guardrails to Muse. That request comes even as CAA runs its own AI Vault program to archive its members’ likenesses indefinitely. A CAA spokesperson said no one’s name, image, likeness, voice, or creative work should be used by any third party without clear, documented consent, including by AI models.
“Artists deserve to decide if and how their likeness and work is used, with consent and the ability to set their own terms,” the agency said in its statement. CAA added that creators need the ability to impose restrictions, monitor usage, and take down unauthorized content, and that it should always be clear when material is AI-generated.
Meta says Muse already has safeguards
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, disputes the idea that the tool lacks protections. “We built Muse Image with strong controls and safety guardrails from day one,” the company said. Private accounts and users under 18 are automatically excluded, and adult users with public accounts can opt out in a couple of clicks. Meta said it will act against content that violates its Community Standards. The company has not said how many public accounts have used the opt-out option since the tool launched, or how it plans to handle images already generated before a user disables the feature.
The dispute lands as AI use in Hollywood remains contentious. SAG-AFTRA has separately endorsed the Trump administration’s AI policy framework. That framework calls on Congress to pass legislation covering parental controls, intellectual property protections, First Amendment safeguards, AI workforce development, and looser rules on data centers generating their own power. Last month, Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a voluntary framework under which AI companies would give the federal government access to new models for a 30-day review before release. For now, the opt-out process remains a manual step. Individual Instagram users have to find the setting and turn it off themselves, rather than being excluded from Muse by default.