Meta has removed a popular function from Instagram for millions of users.
Instagram Live was introduced in 2016, allowing anyone to broadcast an hour-long video stream to their followers or a room of three guests.
But Meta, which also owns Facebook and WhatsApp, quietly updated its rules last month to restrict who can go live.
Instagram’s Help Center states: ‘Only Instagram users who have a public account with 1,000 followers or more will be able to start a Live broadcast.’
Now, users who don’t have public accounts and have fewer than 1,000 followers will be greeted by a pop-up when they try to go live.
‘Your account is no longer eligible to go Live,’ it says.
Around one in four Instagram users have fewer than 1,000 followers. With some 2billion monthly users, this amounts to about 250million people.
Social media experts have criticised the move, saying that the shift will likely impact smaller content creators, aspiring influencers and regular people who use the feature to chat with close friends.
Media consultant Chad Teixeira told Metro: ‘For smaller creators and aspiring influencers, it’s a bit of a bittersweet change.
‘Live was a fun, casual way to connect without overthinking, perfect for showing personality and building those first loyal followers.
‘Now, it’s all about hitting that magic 1,000 before you can beam yourself out in real time. Think of it as Instagram nudging you to focus on Reels, Stories, and Collabs first, then unlocking Live later.
‘It’s not the end of the road for breakout stars, just a shift in the journey. Creators can still grow by leaning into short, snackable content, jumping into collaborations, and building community in DMs and comments.’
One said on X: ‘Can’t go live cause I don’t have 1,000 followers, b***h, I don’t even like 1,000 people.’
Becky added: ‘Can’t do live videos on Instagram anymore without 1,000 followers, what the actual f**k, that’s so unfair, I only have 118 followers.’
A user who said they often do live streams of themselves playing games said their most recent broadcast was ‘prob my last’.
‘I enjoyed just popping in once in a while and not feeling the pressure other apps force on you,’ they added.
The social network did not give a reason for the change when approached by TechCrunch, other than to ‘improve the overall Live consumption experience’.
Teixeira said Meta may have to ‘reduce spam and align with other platforms’ thresholds’.
The rule brings Instagram’s live feature more in line with TikTok’s as the short-form video app also requires users to have 1,000 followers or more.
YouTube, meanwhile, only asks channels to have 50 subscribers or more to go live.
Meta has been approached for comment.
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