Instagram Giveaway Rules: What Instagram and the FTC Require

If you run an Instagram giveaway, Instagram says you are responsible for its lawful operation: the official rules, the offer terms and eligibility requirements, and compliance with the laws that govern the promotion and its prizes Source [1]. Instagram also says a promotion must include a complete release of Instagram by each entrant and an acknowledgement that Instagram does not sponsor, endorse, administer or have any association with it Source [1].

This page is general information, not legal advice. It covers Instagram's page and one set of FTC guides. It does not review state sweepstakes laws, so ask a lawyer before you run a prize promotion.

The announcement and the winner post of a giveaway can be pieces of one idea told to fit each network, which is how Autonomah describes a campaign Source [3].

What Instagram requires

The Promotion Guidelines page puts these duties on the host Source [1]:

• The official rules are yours to write and follow Source [1].
• You set the offer terms and eligibility requirements, for example age and residency restrictions Source [1].
• You comply with the rules and regulations that govern the promotion and its prizes, for example registration and any regulatory approvals Source [1].
• You must not tag content inaccurately or encourage users to do so. Instagram's example is encouraging people to tag themselves in photos they are not in Source [1].
• The promotion must include the release of Instagram and the acknowledgement quoted above Source [1].

Instagram also says it will not help you administer the promotion, and that it cannot advise you on whether consent is required to use user content or how to get it Source [1]. If you use the service to administer a promotion, you do so at your own risk Source [1]. The page adds a notice for Brazil: if you run a commercial promotion there, you need to follow the regulation of the prize supervision office of the Ministry of Finance Source [1].

What the page does not say

The page we read does not mention a minimum number of followers, a maximum prize value, a required hashtag or required wording for the entry post. Our read: that is why the official rules matter, since Instagram leaves most of the terms to the host.

The FTC angle: entrants who post about you

Our read: if your giveaway asks people to post, tag or use a hashtag about your brand to enter, their posts can work like endorsements, and the FTC's endorsement guides then become relevant.

Two points in the text of 16 CFR Part 255 support that reading Source [2]. First, a connection between an endorser and a seller that might materially affect the weight or credibility of an endorsement, and that the audience does not reasonably expect, must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously Source [2]. Second, the guides list among material connections the possibility of winning a prize Source [2]. The guides also say an advertiser may be liable for a deceptive endorsement even when the endorser is not liable, and for failing to disclose unexpected material connections Source [2].

Whether a specific giveaway creates that duty is a legal question we do not answer. If entry depends on a post about your brand, our recommendation is to tell entrants to say in the post that it is an entry in a giveaway, and to put that instruction in your official rules.

What to put in your official rules

Instagram says the host sets the eligibility and offer terms and includes the release and acknowledgement Source [1]. Items 1 and 6 follow from that, and the other five are our recommendation, not Instagram's:

1. Who can enter, with age and residency limits.
2. The start and end dates and the time zone.
3. How to enter, and what an entry post must say.
4. How the winner is chosen and notified.
5. What the prize is, who provides it and who pays for delivery.
6. The Instagram release and acknowledgement, in the words you choose with your lawyer.
7. Who is running it, and how entrants can contact them.

The posts around a giveaway

Our suggestion for the three posts: the announcement states the entry steps and the dates, the reminder repeats the end date, and the winner post names who won and how they were chosen. Each has to match the official rules. Autonomah's pieces arrive ready to review with the reasoning behind them, go through automated checks and then wait for your team to approve them Source [3].

How Autonomah does it

We make Autonomah, an artificial creative and advertising brain that thinks, creates and publishes each brand's advertising Source [3]. Every piece answers to an objective, which the site defines as what a brand's communication has to achieve: more people knowing it, visiting its site or getting in touch Source [3]. How a campaign turns into pieces is explained too: read how campaigns and pieces are made.

Frequently asked questions

What are good giveaway rules?

Instagram's requirements are the minimum: written official rules, stated eligibility and offer terms, legal compliance for the prize, honest tagging, and the release and acknowledgement Source [1]. Beyond that, see the list above, which is our recommendation.

Does Instagram help me run a giveaway?

No. Instagram says it will not help you administer the promotion, and that it cannot advise you on whether consent is required to use user content or how to get it Source [1]. If you use the service to administer a promotion, you do so at your own risk Source [1].

When should you do a giveaway on Instagram?

The Promotion Guidelines page says nothing about timing Source [1]. Choose dates when your audience is active and when you can run the promotion properly, and put them in your official rules.

Can you win Instagram giveaways on private accounts?

The page we read does not address private accounts Source [1]. Your official rules decide who is eligible and how you verify entries.

Can I ask entrants to tag themselves in photos?

Not if they are not in the photo. Instagram says you must not tag content inaccurately or encourage users to do so, and its example is encouraging people to tag themselves in photos they are not in Source [1].

Do I need approval to run a promotion in Brazil?

Instagram's page says a commercial promotion there has to follow the regulation of the prize supervision office of the Ministry of Finance Source [1].