Privacy & Your Brand
Meta Is Now Using Public Instagram Content for AI — Here’s How to Turn It Off
Meta has quietly opted every public Instagram account into letting people remix your photos, reels, and even your voice with its AI tools. If your business account is public, this affects you. The good news: it takes about 60 seconds to switch off.
Bella V Marketing · Updated July 2026 · ~4 min read
If you run a public Instagram account — which most businesses do — there’s a new setting you’ll want to check today. Meta recently rolled out an AI image tool (branded as Muse Image) that, by default, lets other people create with and reuse your public content across Meta’s AI features on Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and the Meta AI app.
In plain terms: someone can pull your public photos and reels into an AI prompt to generate brand-new images, and they can reuse your original audio (including your voice) to create their own content. And here’s the part that’s caught a lot of people off guard — every public account was automatically opted in. You didn’t sign up for it, and you won’t be notified when it happens.
Who this affects: This applies to public accounts only. Private accounts are already protected — Meta AI won’t let others use a private account’s content to generate images. But for businesses, going private usually isn’t an option because it kills your reach. That’s why the manual opt-out below matters.
What Meta Actually Turned On
Buried in your Instagram settings, under a section called Sharing and reuse, there are a few toggles that were switched on by default for public accounts:
Allow people to create with and reuse your content
When the Posts and Reels toggles are on, anyone can use all or part of your posts and reels in remixes, sequences, templates, or stickers — and download your content as part of their own post or reel. They can also save and reuse any stickers you shared.
Allow people to create with and reuse your original audio on Meta AI
When the Reels toggle here is on, anyone can create with all or part of your original audio — including your voice — on Meta AI apps and websites.
Allow people to share externally — Downloads
When on, anyone can download your public reels, your original audio, and remixes of your content made by others.
One important note straight from Meta’s own settings: you can’t turn off reuse of your original audio, text, or comments at the account level in the first section — only posts and reels. The separate “original audio on Meta AI” toggle is the one that controls AI voice reuse, so make sure you catch both sections.
How to Turn It Off (Step by Step)
Here’s the exact path in the Instagram app. It takes less than a minute.
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Open your profile and menu Open the Instagram app, tap your profile picture (bottom right), then tap the three-line menu (☰) in the top-right corner. |
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Go to Settings and activity Tap Settings and activity at the top of the menu. |
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Find “Sharing and reuse” Scroll down to the section How others can interact with you and tap Sharing and reuse. |
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Turn off Posts and Reels reuse Under Allow people to create with and reuse your content, toggle Posts and Reels to off (gray). |
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Turn off original audio on Meta AI Under Allow people to create with and reuse your original audio on Meta AI, toggle Reels to off. This is the setting that stops your voice/audio from being reused by AI. |
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(Optional) Turn off Downloads Under Allow people to share externally, toggle Downloads off if you don’t want people downloading your public reels and audio at all. |
That’s it — there’s no “save” button; the toggles apply immediately. You can also turn reuse off for individual posts or reels from the “…” (more) menu on any single piece of content.
Do this sooner rather than later. Turning the setting off only stops future AI generations. Anything already created from your content while the setting was on will not be deleted. And Meta says you won’t be notified when someone uses your content this way, so there’s no way to know after the fact.
What This Means for Your Business
For a marketing account, your images, reels, and voice are part of your brand. Letting them flow freely into AI tools means your likeness, your product shots, or your spokesperson’s voice could show up in content you never approved — potentially alongside messaging that has nothing to do with you. Switching these toggles off keeps you in control of how your content is used while still letting you post publicly and reach your audience.
If you manage multiple client or brand accounts, it’s worth walking through this on each one. It’s a five-minute task that protects the brand equity you’ve spent years building.
Quick FAQ
Does this affect private accounts?
No. Private accounts are already protected from Meta AI content reuse. This is a public-account issue.
Will turning it off hurt my reach?
No. These toggles control AI reuse and downloads — not who can see or follow you. Your posts stay public and your reach is unaffected.
Can I undo AI content already made from my posts?
Unfortunately, no. Opting out only prevents new generations going forward. Existing AI content isn’t removed.
Is the toggle available on every account yet?
The feature and its opt-out are still rolling out, so the exact wording or availability may vary slightly by account. Check back if you don’t see all the toggles yet.
Need help protecting your brand across social platforms? Bella V Marketing helps businesses stay in control of their content and reputation online. Reach out and we’ll audit your settings with you.
Sources:
Meta’s New AI Image Tool Can Use Your Public Instagram Photos by Default — MacRumors
How to stop Meta’s AI image generator from using your Instagram photos — TechCrunch
Your Instagram photos can now be used by others — here’s how to opt out — Newsweek
