San Francisco, California - Celebrities and sports stars are among the around 600,000 people who have reposted a hoax image which claims to deny Meta the right to use their data to train artificial intelligence (AI) models.

Actors Julianne Moore and Ashley Tisdale, as well as NFL star Tom Brady, have reportedly reshared the post on Instagram Stories, entitled "Goodbye Meta AI".

The message claims that by sharing the post on their profile, the Facebook and Instagram owner will no longer be able to use their data to train AI.

However, this is not the case – sharing a post on an Instagram story does not count as a valid form of objection to Meta's data policies – and instead, users can opt out of AI training through their account settings.

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"Goodbye Meta AI. Please note an attorney has advised us to put this on, failure to do so may result in legal consequences," the message reads.

"As Meta is now a public entity all members must post a similar statement. If you do not post at least once it will be assumed you are okay with them using your information and photos.

"I do not give Meta or anyone else permission to use any of my personal data, profile information or photos."

Many of the images from high-profile figures have already been partially hidden and labeled as false information by Instagram.

The sudden rise in sharing of the posts appears to be in response to Meta's announcement in the summer that it would use public posts on its social media platforms to help train the AI models it is developing.

Earlier this month, Meta confirmed it would begin using data from public posts of users in the UK to train its AI but confirmed it would honor the objection of any user who had already submitted one via their account settings and confirmed it would continue to allow users to opt-in in this way.

To object via Facebook, users can go to their settings, select Privacy Center, and then select the AI at Meta option and select the "information that you’ve shared on Meta products and services" option under the subheading "Submit an objection request".

Similarly, Instagram users can access the Privacy Center to submit an objection in the same way by going to Settings then scrolling down and selecting Privacy Center.