Meta’s new artificial intelligence agent, Muse, took over the @muse username that the English rock band Muse had used for years on Instagram and X; the band switched to @museband on both platforms. It was not disclosed under what terms the accounts were changed or whether there was an agreement between the parties. The band had registered the Muse name as a trademark in 1999. Some fans noticed the change on Instagram during the summer; The Independent pointed to July, while Reddit users cited early June. The timing of the switch on X is unknown. Meta began using the @Muse username when it unveiled the product on Tuesday. New York Times reporter Mike Isaac said Mark Zuckerberg and some Meta executives had mistakenly tagged the band’s account in early posts, describing it as a “bug.” The change drew criticism from some fans. Representatives for Meta and Muse did not comment on the process.
Why it matters
The development raises questions about how social media usernames are managed by platforms and under what conditions accounts that have long used the same name can be changed. The trademark that the band Muse has held since 1999 does not, on its own, explain how it relates to username practices on the platforms; the boundary between legal rights and digital account ownership therefore remains unclear. The fact that representatives for Meta and the band have not discussed the process leaves open whether the change was a technical procedure, the result of an agreement, or connected to another platform policy. The issue directly concerns artists and brands that have used similar usernames for years, as well as the fans who follow them; it particularly highlights expectations of transparency in account changes.
Background
Meta is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 9 reports mentioning this name in the last 90 days; the most recent was dated September 10, 2026.