Instagram announced it will no longer recommend content from accounts that regularly repost or primarily share other people’s photos and carousels across the app.

The Meta-owned platform said the change is designed to ensure creators of original content receive the credit and distribution they deserve. Protections of this kind were already in place for Reels and now extend to photos and carousels, which are posts featuring collections of images and videos in a swipeable format.

What Counts as Original Content

Instagram defines original content as material someone wholly created, or that reflects their unique perspective, including photos or videos they took or content they designed. The platform also classifies materially edited third-party content as original.

Using existing material, such as meme templates or popular clips, qualifies as original if the creator adds an element that enhances the content.

“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,” Instagram said in a 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.”

What Does Not Qualify

Instagram specified that low-effort edits do not meet the originality threshold. Adding watermarks, changing the speed of a video, or uploading a screenshot of another person’s post with their username visible for credit all fall outside the definition.

Scope of the Change

The update targets aggregator accounts that re-upload others’ posts without transformation. Instagram said the change will not affect how the platform surfaces content from aggregator accounts to users who already follow them. Instead, the restriction applies to recommendations across the app, including users’ feeds and the Discover tab.

Instagram framed the policy as part of a broader effort to reduce repeated circulation of the same posts and reward originality on the platform.

Source: TechCrunch

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