# The Facebook AI info label on photos

Source: https://passreal.com/platforms/facebook

Facebook adds an AI info label to a photo when it detects industry-standard AI signals, such as C2PA or IPTC fields in the file, or when the person posting discloses that the content is AI-generated. If you did not use AI, inspect the file for a leftover AI metadata field. Meta's help center is the reference for the current rules.

## What the label is

When Meta announced in February 2024 that it would label AI-generated images on
Facebook, Instagram and Threads, it named two open standards as the basis for
detection: C2PA and IPTC. The label is therefore not a judgement made by looking
at your picture. It is, in the first place, a reaction to fields written into the
file by the tool that made or edited it.

Meta later changed the wording from Made with AI to AI info. That change followed
complaints from photographers whose real photographs had been labelled after
small edits with tools that write an AI marker. The label can now appear on a
picture that was captured by a camera and then touched by a generative feature.

## What can trigger it

Three routes are worth checking, in this order.

1. Metadata in the file. A C2PA manifest from a generator or an editor that
   records generative actions. An IPTC digital source type value that declares the
   image as made by a trained algorithmic model, or composited with one. XMP or
   text fields naming a generator.
2. Your own disclosure. Facebook offers a way for the person posting to say that
   content is AI-generated. If you ticked it, the label follows.
3. Platform analysis. Meta says it also works on its own detection, and we cannot
   see how that works from outside. Do not assume it is zero.

## Checking the file

Open the exact file you uploaded, not a copy. List its metadata groups with
`exiftool -a -G1 -s file.jpg` and look for a JUMBF or C2PA group, an IPTC
`DigitalSourceType` and any XMP entry that names a tool. The page on
[the Instagram AI label](/guides/instagram-ai-label) goes through the fields one
at a time, and the explainer on [what C2PA is](/guides/c2pa) shows what a manifest
holds and why a normal photo editor can add one.

If you find a marker on a real photograph, the cause is usually an editing step.
Features such as generative fill, background extension and object removal record
their use, and the record stays in the saved file. Redoing the edit with a tool
that does not use a generative feature, or exporting from the original, avoids it.

## What you can do about it

If the picture is yours and made without AI, clear the offending field and
re-upload. The how-to on [removing C2PA](/how-to/remove-c2pa) and the one on
[removing the Software tag](/how-to/remove-software-exif-tag) cover the two most
common places. Re-uploading a corrected file does not always remove the label
from the first post, and you should not count on an appeal being resolved quickly.

If the picture is AI-generated, the position is different. Meta's rules ask for
disclosure of some realistic AI content, and metadata removal does not change what
the image is. PassReal removes provenance markers from the file and says so in a
report, but it does not promise that a platform will not detect an AI image by
other means, and it does not remove pixel watermarks.

## For sellers and advertisers

Ads follow their own policy. If you run paid campaigns with generated images, read
the advertising section of Meta's help center in addition to the rules for organic
posts, and keep the source files so that you can explain the work if asked.

## A note on appeals and evidence

If a real photograph was labelled, keep the original file as it came from the
camera, along with any RAW file and neighbouring frames from the same session.
Those show the capture better than any screenshot of a detector. The editing
history matters too: write down which tools touched the picture, since a
generative feature used for a small retouch is the most likely cause. When you
contact the platform, describe the edit, not only the result. A clear account of
what was done is more useful to a reviewer than a claim that no AI was involved,
and it keeps the record accurate if the label stays.

## Questions

### Why does Facebook say AI info on my real photo?

Most often because the file carries a metadata field that marks AI involvement, which some editing tools write even for small edits such as generative fill or object removal. Read the file's metadata to see which field is present.

### Did Facebook rename the label?

Meta announced in 2024 that it would label AI images using C2PA and IPTC signals. It later changed the label wording from Made with AI to AI info, after photographers complained about edited real photos being labelled.

### Does removing metadata stop the label?

It removes the metadata signals that the label reads. It does not change the pixels, and it does not affect any watermark in them or a disclosure you made yourself.

### Do I have to disclose AI content on Facebook?

Meta's help center describes a disclosure option for realistic AI content and rules for ads. Read the current text, because the requirements differ by content type and change over time.

### Is the label the same on Instagram and Threads?

Meta applied the approach across Facebook, Instagram and Threads, though the placement of the label differs by app. Our page on the Instagram label lists the metadata fields to inspect.

Try it: https://passreal.com/app (three images free)