Opt Out — An Open Letter to Meta
For more than a decade, Instagram has been a crucial tool for photojournalists distributing their work. They have reached millions from some of the most dangerous places in the world. Many have paid with their lives. They have also been crucial in the initial growth of the platform.
We are deeply troubled by Meta Platforms, Inc.’s plan to train their artificial intelligence (AI) models on photojournalistic content. In times of disinformation and misinformation, in a time where democracy is in decline and the common denominator of what is true and what is fake is eroding, it is more important than ever to have trustworthy sources. Meta’s announced AI policy further undermines that.
We ask Meta to reverse course on their plan to train their AI on Instagram without the option to opt out for most users. We further ask Meta to not use any journalistic or documentary photography and videography in their AI. It is not only a threat to our profession, but to democracy itself.
Signed,
Agentur Focus — Die Fotograf*innen UG
Fotobus Society
FREELENS e.V.
Kürschner & Haas — powerpress.ch
laif foundationlaif Photos & Reportagen GmbH
Monroe Gallery of Photography
Photojournalists’ Center of the Philippines
Inc.Pictorial — Art Buyer’s Digest
REPORTERS SA
poolima e.K.
World Press Photo
Carmen Yasmine Abd Ali | Photographer
Ezra Acayan | Photojournalist
Sebastian Adam | Photographer
Heimo Aga | Photojournalist
Margaret Albaugh | Documentary Photographer
Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi | Photojournalist
Zoe Allington | Curator
Sitara Thalia Ambrosio | Photojournalist
Ludwig Ander-Donath | Documentary Photographer
Andrea Ariel | Filmmaker
Ali Arkady | Photojournalist
Blake Armstrong | Photographer
Matthieu Audiffret | Photojournalist
Christoph Bangert | Photojournalist
Mira Barrelmeyer | Journalist
Randy Beacham | Photographer
Richard Bednarski | Documentary Photographer
Peter Bialobrzeski | Photographer
Patrick Brown | Photographer
Lauren Brown | Curator
Brunner Ralf Brunner | Documentary Photographer
Friedrich Bungert | Photojournalist
Benigno Jose Carag | Documentary Photographer
Mary Carson | Journalist
Gianluca Cecere | Photojournalist
Alessandra Celauro | Photographer
Daniel Chatard | Documentary Photographer
Esteban Chevalier | Journalist
Andrea Chimenti | Photographer
Tatsiana Chypsanava | Documentary Photographer
Darryl Cobb | Photographer
Lukas Coch | Photojournalist
Rebecca Conway | Photojournalist
Tarquin Cooper | Journalist
Susan Corpuz | Photojournalist
Daniel J Cox | Photographer
Valentina Crosato | Photo Editor
Felipe Dana | Photojournalist
Michael Danner | Photographer
Suvra Kanti Das | Photojournalist
Carolina De aroca | Photo Editor
Finjo de Boer | Documentary Photographer
Giovanni de Mojana | Photographer
Kimberly dela Cruz | Photographer
Jeffrey Delfin | Photographer
Jonas Dengler | Photojournalist
Andrea DiCenzo | Photojournalist
Teodosia Dobriyanova | Videojournalist
Jimmy Domingo | Photojournalist
Emile Ducke | Documentary Photographer
Iona Dutz | Photographer
Karlis Dzjamko | Photojournalist
Rena Effendi | Documentary Photographer
Jake Eshelman | Documentary Photographer
Tim Evans | Documentary Photographer
Isabella Finholdt | Photojournalist
Mario Fourmy | Photojournalist
Mohini Gaillard | Photo Editor
LUIS EDUARDO GALDIERI | Photojournalist
Florian Generotzky | Photographer
Jura Germanyuk | Photographer
Tom Giesemann | Photographer
Franziska Gilli | Photographer
Raffaele Giovane | Curator
Andrea Gjestvang | Photographer
Jan Glatzel | Photographer
Jo Glinka | Documentary Photographer
David Goldman | Documentary Photographer
Thomas Grabka | Photojournalist
Matt Growcoot | Journalist
Leon Adam Haas | Documentary Photographer
Elian Hadj Hamdi | Documentary Photographer
Corine Hamel | Photo Editor
Linda Dawn Hammond | Photojournalist
Gergely Hando | Photographer
Ursula Häne | Photographer
Joe Harrison | Documentary Photographer
Nick Harwart | Photographer
Kiana Hayeri | Photojournalist
Beatrice Helpey | Filmmaker
Daniella Heminghaus | Photojournalist
Tizian Hempel | Photographer
Jonas Been Henriksen | Photojournalist
Rafael Heygster | Photojournalist
Addie Hockney | Documentary Photographer
Marcus Hoehn | Photojournalist
Daniel Hofer | Photographer
Stephanie Hostager | Photographer
Trella Howe | Photographer
Renae Hyland | Photographer
Sara Hylton | Photographer
Paul Ingram | Photojournalist
Jana Islinger | Documentary Photographer
Kayla Jackson | Journalist
Svet Jacqueline | Documentary Photographer
Julia Johanning | Photo Editor
Emma Jones | Photographer
Christian Jungeblodt | Photographer
Ludi Kaisi | Photojournalist
Marcin Karbowniczek | Photographer
Aliona Kardash | Documentary Photographer
Ed Kashi | Photojournalist
Anja Kellner | Photo Editor
Katharina Kemme | Documentary Photographer
Meike Kenn | Photographer
Karoline Kickler | Photographer
Pete Kiehart | Photojournalist
Bartosz Kleczek | Photographer
Gary Knight | Photojournalist
Timo Knorr | Documentary Photographer
Ina-Jasmin Kossatz | Photo Editor
Marco Kost | Photojournalist
Henning Kretschmer | Photographer
Christoph Kronseder | Photographer
Ksenia Kuleshova | Photojournalist
Axel Kunze | Photographer
Nabila Lalee | Journalist
Brianna Largent | Photographer
Steavie Lea | Photographer
Alexandra Lechner | Photographer
Steven Lee | Photographer
Louis Leeson | Photojournalist
Quirin Leppert | Photographer
Ned Levi | Photographer
Maya Levin | Photojournalist
Mauricio Lima | Documentary Photographer
Lars Lindemann | Curator
Alex Linder | Filmmaker
Manfred Linke | Photographer
Thomas Linkel | Photographer
Gonçalo Lobo Pinheiro | Photojournalist
Elena Lobova | Photographer
Kai Löffelbein | Photographer
Mitchell Loh | Photographer
Roberto Lopez | Photographer
Nora Lorek | Documentary Photographer
Adriana Loureiro | Photographer
Cristi Lungu | Photographer
Audrey M-G | Photojournalist
Elipe Mahé | Photographer
Maximilian Mann | Photojournalist
Omar Marques | Photojournalist
Catalina Martin-Chico | Documentary Photographer
Alice Martins | Photojournalist
Kevin McElvaney | Photojournalist
Mayita Mendez | Photographer
Omer Messinger | Photojournalist
Maja Metz | Photo Editor
Melanie Mier | Photographer
Jörg Modrow | Photographer
Jackie Molloy | Photojournalist
Mònica Mont | Photojournalist
Deo Montesclaros | Photojournalist
Tuul & Bruno Morandi | Photographer
Arnold Morascher | Photographer
Jessica Morfis | Photographer
Victor Moriyama | Documentary Photographer
Giorgio Morra | Photographer
Melina Mörsdorf | Photographer
Rosem Morton | Photojournalist
Lena Mucha | Photojournalist
Achim Multhaupt | Photographer
Amira Mutaher | Curator
saurabh narang | Photographer
Marge Nelk | Photographer
Tiedemann Niclas | Documentary Photographer
Stefan Nieland | Photographer
Ingmar Björn Nolting | Photojournalist
Paulo Nunes dos Santos | Photojournalist
Finbarr O’Reilly | Photojournalist
Andrew Chester Ong Ong | Photographer
Katie Orlinsky | Photographer
Lucy Owen Jones | Photographer
Sarah Pabst | Photojournalist
Alexander Pacuraru | Photographer
Stefanos Paikos | Documentary Photographer
Santi Palacios | Photojournalist
Sabine Pallaske | Photographer
Myrto Papadopoulos | Photographer
Jun Michael Park | Documentary Photographer
David Dare Parker | Photographer
Jean-Paul Pastor Guzmán | Photographer
Andreas Pein | Photographer
Martine Perret | Photographer
Thomas Pirot | Photographer
Clemens Porikys | Photographer
Gabriel Proedl | Journalist
Vinod Rai Sharma Rai | Photographer
Keith Ramsey | Photographer
Lucas Ranzuglia | Photographer
Ingo Rappers | Photographer
Ruggero Romano Reina | Photographer
Yvonne Reinartz | Photographer
Sofia Reis | Filmmaker
Svenja Reitz | Photo Editor
Juan Diego Reyes | Documentary Photographer
Alinne Rezende | Photojournalist
Annette Karin Richards | Documentary Photographer
Till Rimmele | Photo Editor
Federico Rios | Photojournalist
Pete Rosos | Photojournalist
Laura Ross | Photographer
Stefania Rousselle | Journalist
Niall Ruddy | Photographer
Hart Sammy | Photographer
Mateusz Sarello | Documentary Photographer
Jan Scheunert | Photojournalist
Elisabeth Schindler | Photojournalist
Oskar Schlechter | Documentary Photographer
Roland Schmid | Photojournalist
Brita Schmidt | Photographer
Sarah Schneider | Documentary Photographer
Jürgen Schrader | Photographer
Bradley Secker | Photojournalist
Fernando Sepe | Photojournalist
Robert Serbinenko | Documentary Photographer
Smita Sharma | Photojournalist
Robbie Shone | Photographer
Laila Sieber | Journalist
Steve Simon | Documentary Photographer
Seth Simonyi-Gindele | Photographer
Utkarsh Singh | Documentary Photographer
Leonhard Sinon | Photojournalist
Anders Rye Skjoldjensen | Photojournalist
Nichole Sobecki | Documentary Photographer
Philipp Spalek | Photojournalist
Kathy Stanford | Photojournalist
Sandra Steh | Photographer
Berthold Steinhilber | Photographer
Carlotta Steinkamp | Photojournalist
Florian Sulzer | Documentary Photographer
Maria Svidryk | Photographer
Hilary Swift | Photojournalist
Stephen Swofford | Photojournalist
Dermot Tatlow | Photographer
Bettina Theuerkauf | Photographer
Marie-Kristin Thiele | Photo Editor
Laura Tinnel | Photographer
Patrick Tombola | Filmmaker
Vinh Tran | Photographer
Murat Tueremis | Photographer
Gael Turine | Documentary Photographer
Manolo Ty | Photographer
Jens Umbach | Photographer
Hannah-Kathryn Valles | Photojournalist
Tomas van Houtryve | Documentary Photographer
Laetitia Vançon | Photographer
Josefien Vandenborre | Photographer
Marisa Vanschuyver | Photographer
Manuek Vazquez | Photographer
Sarah Venning | Photographer
Stefan Volk | Documentary Photographer
Nura Vormann | Photojournalist
Hel Wagner | Documentary Photographer
James Wellford | Photo Editor
Chiara Wettmann | Documentary Photographer
Jule Wild | Photographer
Chloe Wilder | Photographer
Jesse Winter | Photojournalist
Nadja Wohlleben | Documentary Photographer
Kiliii Yuyan | Documentary Photographer
Daniella Zalcman | Photojournalist
Ewa Zasada | Curator
Adriana Zehbrauskas | Photojournalist
Anna Ziegler | Photographer
