Instagram Selling Photos: New Policy Canceled After Backlash
Instagram will now change its new "selling photos" policy after receiving widespread backlash from users of the popular photo sharing app.
Company executives began implementing damage control late Tuesday by backtracking on the company's initial policy, which had been designed to give Instagram full ownership of its users' images starting Jan. 16, 2013. After users complained, with some even making threats of a boycott, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom confirmed that the company had scrapped the policy, according to CNN.
"To be clear it is not our intention to sell your photos. We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear," Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom wrote in a blog post. "The language we proposed ... raised question about whether your photos can be part of an advertisement. We do not have plans for anything like this and because of that we're going to remove the language that raised the question."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
As previously reported, the photo sharing app, which is owned by Facebook and boasts more than 100 million users, found itself at the center of controversy early Tuesday over its new policy. The news prompted many users, including Hollywood celebrities, to contemplate deleting their accounts.
"No more Instagram," actress Kate Walsh tweeted Tuesday.
"I just read the new Instagram terms of use starting on Jan 16th.. Seriously considering closing my account!.. It's not OK!" model Bar Rafaeli tweeted.
"Soo whose all deleting their instagram accounts before jan 16??!!..." reality star Audrina Patridge tweeted.
While Systrom insists that the controversial new policy was the result of a simple communication error on the company's part, some critics suspect that the backtracking may have been due to the boycott threats and growing competitors.
Instagram competitor EyeEm.com immediately took advantage of Tuesday's controversy by assuring its users that they would never be subject to the same controversial policy changes as Instagram users. This likely did not sit well with Instagram executives.
"Your photos belong to you. That promise is and always will be at the core of EyeEm," EyeEm wrote in a Facebook post.
