The official Instagram account of Robin Williams, dormant since 2014, has been brought back online by his three children, Zak, Zelda and Cody Williams. The move comes twelve years after the actor's death on August 11, 2014, and just weeks after what would have been his 75th birthday.
In a post shared on Monday August 17, the siblings said they want the account, which runs under the handle therobinwilliams, to become a trustworthy space where stories, photos, videos and memories reflect their father's legacy with warmth and authenticity. They described the project as a way to keep sharing his talent and humor while pushing back against a wave of unauthorized material circulating online.
Writing on her own account, Zelda Williams said the underlying motivation is to counter what she called the widespread misuse of her father's voice and image through artificial intelligence on social media. She said posting genuine clips and photos of him is one of the more effective tools the family has found against that trend.
This is not the first time Zelda Williams has spoken out on the subject. Last October she publicly asked people to stop sending her AI generated videos of her father, calling the practice pointless and something he would not have wanted. During the Hollywood actors' strike in 2023, she also criticized AI recreations of performers, describing them as a poor substitute for the real person at best.
This account draws on reporting by La Dépêche.