Instagram has a new penalty for unoriginal content aggregators: No recommendations

If you have an Instagram account that only reposts content from other creators, be warned: Meta is coming for you.

The parent company of Instagram is extending a policy that punishes reposts, IP theft, and other forms of low-effort content aggregation. Those posts have already been deprecated on the short-form format Reels, and they’re now getting the same treatment on the OG version of Instagram. Pursuant to a recent policy shift, accounts that repost too many photos and carousels will become ineligible for algorithmic recommendations.

The update will apply to user feeds and the central Discover feed, where reuploads will not appear unless they have been significantly changed. Users will still be able to see reposts from accounts they already follow; they simply won’t be able to find other accounts that engage in that type of posting activity.

The battle against reuploaded content has been an area of focus for Instagram in recent years. The platform’s efforts to promote original posts date as far back as 2022, when algorithmic tweaks encouraged creators to share their own work, not someone else’s. Two years after that, an additional algorithm update brought more original content to Instagram feeds.

At the time of that change, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri clarified that content aggregators can still engage in their typical work as long as they meaningfully transform the posts they reupload. Mosseri noted that the algorithmic punishments targeted “unoriginal content that [reposters] didn’t enhance.”

A similar policy is in play as Instagram extends its new ranking system to photos and carousels. “When meme creators add humor, social commentary, cultural references, or a relatable take by incorporating elements such as unique text, creative edits, and voiceover on a photo or video, they’re producing something original,” reads an Instagram blog post. “The best meme creators take third-party content and make it unmistakably theirs by layering in a perspective, joke, or context that wasn’t there before. This is the kind of creativity we want to continue rewarding.”

Those edits must be significant; changing the speed of a video or adding a screenshot that shows the original poster’s name isn’t enough. As with the doctrine of fair use, Instagram’s penalties are aimed at low-effort creators who don’t contribute anything new to the posts they reupload.

The policy shift will help Instagram avoid turning out like YouTube Shorts, where reuploads are so rampant that many top channels become mishmashes of IP and pop culture references. And a platform centered around originality will help Meta pitch its apps to creators.

Still, this feels like a significant transformation for Instagram. The app that once gave us FuckJerry and countless other aggregators is recognizing that promotion of those posts disincentivizes original creators. With a cleaned-up algorithm, however, the creators who put in the most effort will — in theory — reap the biggest rewards.