Instagram Now Lets Users Block Others From Embedding Their Posts

Instagram users have long been able to share images on external sites by using an ‘Embed’ option tied to each post, even if it’s not their own. This lack of control over where their work ends up has been a cause for concern among creators.

Now, the social network is giving users more power over their posts by allowing them to disable embeds. The move comes after pleas by the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and the National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA) who were troubled over how the feature could be exploited to bypass copyright restrictions.

“We have been in contact with Instagram for well over a year in pursuit of a fix for this problem. We are grateful that they were receptive to our requests to solve this,” detailed Alicia Calzada, NPPA Deputy General Counsel, in a statement published by PetaPixel.

The ASMP had also written a letter to Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking for a fix for a “rampant problem.” In it, the organization brought up high-profile lawsuits involving Newsweek and Mashable, in which reporters had reached out to photographers seeking permission to feature their pictures and were denied—so the journalists used the Instagram embed feature to share the photos in their articles instead. The letter was signed by six other groups.

Now, users can disallow others from embedding their content in a new option that has just rolled out.

To disable embeds via the iOS or Android app, users will need to head to ‘Settings’ under their profiles, then tap Account > Embeds, where they’ll find the “Allow people to embed your posts or profile on other websites” option. The same setting can be found under Settings > Privacy and Security in the browser.

The option will first be available to users in the US before expanding globally in 2022.

[via PetaPixel, cover photo 165102944 © Daniel Constante | Dreamstime.com]