Terms of Use
Note: Our Terms of Use are changing. You can view our previous Terms of Use here.
Terms of Use
Welcome to Instagram!
These Terms of Use govern your use of Instagram and provide information about the Instagram Service, outlined below. When you create an Instagram account or use Instagram, you agree to these terms.
The Instagram Service is one of the Facebook Products, provided to you by Facebook, Inc. These Terms of Use therefore constitute an agreement between you and Facebook, Inc.
ARBITRATION NOTICE: YOU AGREE THAT DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND US WILL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING, INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AND YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION. WE EXPLAIN SOME EXCEPTIONS AND HOW YOU CAN OPT OUT OF ARBITRATION BELOW.
The Instagram Service
We agree to provide you with the Instagram Service. The Service includes all of the Instagram products, features, applications, services, technologies, and software that we provide to advance Instagram's mission: To bring you closer to the people and things you love. The Service is made up of the following aspects (the Service):
- Offering personalized opportunities to create, connect, communicate, discover, and share.
People are different. We want to strengthen your relationships through shared experiences you actually care about. So we build systems that try to understand who and what you and others care about, and use that information to help you create, find, join, and share in experiences that matter to you. Part of that is highlighting content, features, offers, and accounts you might be interested in, and offering ways for you to experience Instagram, based on things you and others do on and off Instagram. - Fostering a positive, inclusive, and safe environment.
We develop and use tools and offer resources to our community members that help to make their experiences positive and inclusive, including when we think they might need help. We also have teams and systems that work to combat abuse and violations of our Terms and policies, as well as harmful and deceptive behavior. We use all the information we have-including your information-to try to keep our platform secure. We also may share information about misuse or harmful content with other Facebook Companies or law enforcement. Learn more in the Data Policy. - Developing and using technologies that help us consistently serve our growing community.
Organizing and analyzing information for our growing community is central to our Service. A big part of our Service is creating and using cutting-edge technologies that help us personalize, protect, and improve our Service on an incredibly large scale for a broad global community. Technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning give us the power to apply complex processes across our Service. Automated technologies also help us ensure the functionality and integrity of our Service. - Providing consistent and seamless experiences across other Facebook Company Products.
Instagram is part of the Facebook Companies, which share technology, systems, insights, and information-including the information we have about you (learn more in the Data Policy) in order to provide services that are better, safer, and more secure. We also provide ways to interact across the Facebook Company Products that you use, and designed systems to achieve a seamless and consistent experience across the Facebook Company Products. - Ensuring a stable global infrastructure for our Service.
To provide our global Service, we must store and transfer data across our systems around the world, including outside of your country of residence. This infrastructure may be owned or operated by Facebook Inc., Facebook Ireland Limited, or their affiliates. - Connecting you with brands, products, and services in ways you care about.
We use data from Instagram and other Facebook Company Products, as well as from third-party partners, to show you ads, offers, and other sponsored content that we believe will be meaningful to you. And we try to make that content as relevant as all your other experiences on Instagram. - Research and innovation.
We use the information we have to study our Service and collaborate with others on research to make our Service better and contribute to the well-being of our community.
The Data Policy
Providing our Service requires collecting and using your information. The Data Policy explains how we collect, use, and share information across the Facebook Products. It also explains the many ways you can control your information, including in the Instagram Privacy and Security Settings. You must agree to the Data Policy to use Instagram.Your Commitments
In return for our commitment to provide the Service, we require you to make the below commitments to us.Who Can Use Instagram. We want our Service to be as open and inclusive as possible, but we also want it to be safe, secure, and in accordance with the law. So, we need you to commit to a few restrictions in order to be part of the Instagram community.
- You must be at least 13 years old.
- You must not be prohibited from receiving any aspect of our Service under applicable laws or engaging in payments related Services if you are on an applicable denied party listing.
- We must not have previously disabled your account for violation of law or any of our policies.
- You must not be a convicted sex offender.
How You Can't Use Instagram. Providing a safe and open Service for a broad community requires that we all do our part.
- You can't impersonate others or provide inaccurate information.
You don't have to disclose your identity on Instagram, but you must provide us with accurate and up to date information (including registration information). Also, you may not impersonate someone you aren't, and you can't create an account for someone else unless you have their express permission. - You can't do anything unlawful, misleading, or fraudulent or for an illegal or unauthorized purpose.
- You can't violate (or help or encourage others to violate) these Terms or our policies, including in particular the Instagram Community Guidelines, Instagram Platform Policy, and Music Guidelines. Learn how to report conduct or content in our Help Center.
- You can't do anything to interfere with or impair the intended operation of the Service.
- You can't attempt to create accounts or access or collect information in unauthorized ways.
This includes creating accounts or collecting information in an automated way without our express permission. - You can't attempt to buy, sell, or transfer any aspect of your account (including your username) or solicit, collect, or use login credentials or badges of other users.
- You can't post private or confidential information or do anything that violates someone else's rights, including intellectual property.
Learn more, including how to report content that you think infringes your intellectual property rights, here. - You can't use a domain name or URL in your username without our prior written consent.
- We do not claim ownership of your content, but you grant us a license to use it.
Nothing is changing about your rights in your content. We do not claim ownership of your content that you post on or through the Service. Instead, when you share, post, or upload content that is covered by intellectual property rights (like photos or videos) on or in connection with our Service, you hereby grant to us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of your content (consistent with your privacy and application settings). You can end this license anytime by deleting your content or account. However, content will continue to appear if you shared it with others and they have not deleted it. To learn more about how we use information, and how to control or delete your content, review the Data Policy and visit the Instagram Help Center. - Permission to use your username, profile picture, and information about your relationships and actions with accounts, ads, and sponsored content.
You give us permission to show your username, profile picture, and information about your actions (such as likes) or relationships (such as follows) next to or in connection with accounts, ads, offers, and other sponsored content that you follow or engage with that are displayed on Facebook Products, without any compensation to you. For example, we may show that you liked a sponsored post created by a brand that has paid us to display its ads on Instagram. As with actions on other content and follows of other accounts, actions on sponsored content and follows of sponsored accounts can be seen only by people who have permission to see that content or follow. We will also respect your ad settings. You can learn more here about your ad settings. - You agree that we can download and install updates to the Service on your device.
Additional Rights We Retain
- If you select a username or similar identifier for your account, we may change it if we believe it is appropriate or necessary (for example, if it infringes someone's intellectual property or impersonates another user).
- If you use content covered by intellectual property rights that we have and make available in our Service (for example, images, designs, videos, or sounds we provide that you add to content you create or share), we retain all rights to our content (but not yours).
- You can only use our intellectual property and trademarks or similar marks as expressly permitted by our Brand Guidelines or with our prior written permission.
- You must obtain written permission from us or under an open source license to modify, create derivative works of, decompile, or otherwise attempt to extract source code from us.
Content Removal and Disabling or Terminating Your Account
- We can remove any content or information you share on the Service if we believe that it violates these Terms of Use, our policies (including our Instagram Community Guidelines), or we are permitted or required to do so by law. We can refuse to provide or stop providing all or part of the Service to you (including terminating or disabling your account) immediately to protect our community or services, or if you create risk or legal exposure for us, violate these Terms of Use or our policies (including our Instagram Community Guidelines), if you repeatedly infringe other people's intellectual property rights, or where we are permitted or required to do so by law. If you believe your account has been terminated in error, or you want to disable or permanently delete your account, consult our Help Center.
- Content you delete may persist for a limited period of time in backup copies and will still be visible where others have shared it. This paragraph, and the section below called "Our Agreement and What Happens if We Disagree," will still apply even after your account is terminated or deleted.
Our Agreement and What Happens if We Disagree
Our Agreement.- Your use of music on the Service is also subject to our Music Guidelines, and your use of our API is subject to our Platform Policy. If you use certain other features or related services, you will be provided with an opportunity to agree to additional terms that will also become a part of our agreement. For example, if you use payment features, you will be asked to agree to the Community Payment Terms. If any of those terms conflict with this agreement, those other terms will govern.
- If any aspect of this agreement is unenforceable, the rest will remain in effect.
- Any amendment or waiver to our agreement must be in writing and signed by us. If we fail to enforce any aspect of this agreement, it will not be a waiver.
- We reserve all rights not expressly granted to you.
Who Has Rights Under this Agreement.
- This agreement does not give rights to any third parties.
- You cannot transfer your rights or obligations under this agreement without our consent.
- Our rights and obligations can be assigned to others. For example, this could occur if our ownership changes (as in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets) or by law.
Who Is Responsible if Something Happens.
- Our Service is provided "as is," and we can't guarantee it will be safe and secure or will work perfectly all the time. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE ALSO DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
- We also don’t control what people and others do or say, and we aren’t responsible for their (or your) actions or conduct (whether online or offline) or content (including unlawful or objectionable content). We also aren’t responsible for services and features offered by other people or companies, even if you access them through our Service.
- Our responsibility for anything that happens on the Service (also called "liability") is limited as much as the law will allow. If there is an issue with our Service, we can't know what all the possible impacts might be. You agree that we won't be responsible ("liable") for any lost profits, revenues, information, or data, or consequential, special, indirect, exemplary, punitive, or incidental damages arising out of or related to these Terms, even if we know they are possible. This includes when we delete your content, information, or account. Our aggregate liability arising out of or relating to these Terms will not exceed the greater of $100 or the amount you have paid us in the past twelve months.
- You agree to defend (at our request), indemnify and hold us harmless from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including without limitation, reasonable attorney's fees and costs, arising out of or in any way connected with these Terms or your use of the Service. You will cooperate as required by us in the defense of any claim. We reserve the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, and you will not in any event settle any claim without our prior written consent.
How We Will Handle Disputes.
- Except as provided below, you and we agree that any cause of action, legal claim, or dispute between you and us arising out of or related to these Terms or Instagram ("claim(s)") must be resolved by arbitration on an individual basis. Class actions and class arbitrations are not permitted; you and we may bring a claim only on your own behalf and cannot seek relief that would affect other Instagram users. If there is a final judicial determination that any particular claim (or a request for particular relief) cannot be arbitrated in accordance with this provision's limitations, then only that claim (or only that request for relief) may be brought in court. All other claims (or requests for relief) remain subject to this provision.
- Instead of using arbitration, you or we can bring claims in your local "small claims" court, if the rules of that court will allow it. If you don't bring your claims in small claims court (or if you or we appeal a small claims court judgment to a court of general jurisdiction), then the claims must be resolved by binding, individual arbitration. The American Arbitration Association will administer all arbitrations under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. You and we expressly waive a trial by jury.
The following claims don't have to be arbitrated and may be brought in court: disputes related to intellectual property (like copyrights and trademarks), violations of our Platform Policy, or efforts to interfere with the Service or engage with the Service in unauthorized ways (for example, automated ways). In addition, issues relating to the scope and enforceability of the arbitration provision are for a court to decide.
This arbitration provision is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act.
You can opt out of this provision within 30 days of the date that you agreed to these Terms. To opt out, you must send your name, residence address, username, email address or phone number you use for your Instagram account, and a clear statement that you want to opt out of this arbitration agreement, and you must send them here: Facebook, Inc. ATTN: Instagram Arbitration Opt-out, 1601 Willow Rd., Menlo Park, CA 94025. - Before you commence arbitration of a claim, you must provide us with a written Notice of Dispute that includes your name, residence address, username, email address or phone number you use for your Instagram account, a detailed description of the dispute, and the relief you seek. Any Notice of Dispute you send to us should be mailed to Facebook, Inc., ATTN: Instagram Arbitration Filing, 1601 Willow Rd. Menlo Park, CA 94025. Before we commence arbitration, we will send you a Notice of Dispute to the email address you use with your Instagram account, or other appropriate means. If we are unable to resolve a dispute within thirty (30) days after the Notice of Dispute is received, you or we may commence arbitration.
- We will pay all arbitration filing fees, administration and hearing costs, and arbitrator fees for any arbitration we bring or if your claims seek less than $75,000 and you timely provided us with a Notice of Dispute. For all other claims, the costs and fees of arbitration shall be allocated in accordance with the arbitration provider's rules, including rules regarding frivolous or improper claims.
- For any claim that is not arbitrated or resolved in small claims court, you agree that it will be resolved exclusively in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California or a state court located in San Mateo County. You also agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of either of these courts for the purpose of litigating any such claim.
- The laws of the State of California, to the extent not preempted by or inconsistent with federal law, will govern these Terms and any claim, without regard to conflict of law provisions.
Unsolicited Material.
We always appreciate feedback or other suggestions, but may use them without any restrictions or obligation to compensate you for them, and are under no obligation to keep them confidential.