Instagram creators say they have lost thousands of pounds after their accounts were suspended or taken down due to fake copyright claims.
Extorters have filed bogus claims to the Meta-owned social media platform, then asked for ransoms to withdraw them – knowing repeated claims can lead to account bans.
One Instagram user, who has 1.5 million followers, told the BBC he paid a scammer $50 (£37) to get his account back, claiming Meta’s appeal process would take weeks, which had previously cost him thousands in lost income.
“We understand this can be frustrating for those impacted, and our systems are designed to protect people from this happening in the first place,” a Meta spokesperson said.
“Following our review, we have restored the affected content and added additional protections to safeguard accounts against further attempts of this kind.”
However, content creators the BBC has spoken to say Meta is poor at identifying obviously spurious cases, and say its appeals process is slow to respond unless you pay a monthly fee.
‘Obviously fake’
The Lost in Time History Instagram account posts historical pictures to its more than 1.5 million followers.
Its creator Olly, who did not share his last name, told the BBC he posts pictures in the public domain or where he has permission from the rights holder.
Yet he has received dozens of “obviously fake” copyright complaints so far in 2026.
Meta does not check the authenticity of complaints when they are made, so if someone is hit repeatedly, their account can be temporarily taken down.
Olly says he often gets struck for multiple posts at a time, all from the same email address.
He then gets contacted by the person asking to go on to the private messaging app Telegram.
“They’ll demand a certain amount of money,” he said – usually amounting to a few hundred dollars – to withdraw the claim.
The BBC has seen messages from the claimants where they demand money or threaten future copyright strikes.
Olly ultimately agreed to pay an extorter $50 in cryptocurrency to restore his account, which had been temporarily taken down by Instagram.
Law enforcement organisations tell extortion victims not to pay ransoms as it fuels the criminal ecosystem.
Olly said he paid as a “last resort” because it was quicker than going through Meta, which could take weeks.
But he was hit by more copyright strikes immediately after he paid.
“That’s the worst part,” he said.
“Having to pay the person who’s actively put you through all of that anguish only for it to happen straight away again.”
As a result of the number of times he has been hit by copyright claims, Olly’s account was demonetised, meaning he could not earn money from Instagram for high-performing posts.
“There’s no investigation into abuse, or system detection [from Meta] that it could be abuse,” he said.
Other Instagram users have shared similar experiences.
“Meta was not helpful throughout the entire process, forcing you to pay for support to talk, even as they claim to be here for the creator,” said Abin Tom Sebastian, who is behind the Morbid Kuriosity account.
Meta charges a £9.99 monthly fee to be Verified on Instagram, which gives users 24/7 access to support via a live chat.
“I lost irrecoverable and crucial, brand contracts that unfortunately moved ahead with another creator, and no reassurance or support from Meta saying this will not happen again,” Sebastian said.
Instagram says only copyright holders, or an authorised representative, can report copyright infringement, and it advises affected users to contacted rights holders directly.
After the BBC contacted Meta with examples from Olly and other account holders, Meta said it had applied additional protections to their accounts, which it said would prevent similar issues happening in the future.
It said it fought against deceptive behaviour to scam or defraud people and businesses.
Getting in touch with the extortionists
The BBC has spoken to three people who file copyright strikes against Instagram users, despite not being the copyright holders.
All three appear to be based in India, or in countries nearby.
They deny they are holding accounts to ransom – instead saying they file legitimate claims on behalf of copyright holders.
But the BBC has seen messages from one where they ask for $900 (£668) to withdraw a strike.
They claimed this was their payment for the service, and confirmed they kept all the money.
Two others denied they made any money at all.
One said they are sent accounts to target and investigate the claim.
“If I find that they are using someone else’s content, I issue copyright strikes for the benefit of everyone,” they said.
The other said they are sent accounts or posts via an account holder or another representative.
Legitimate agencies do exist which are paid to file copyright strikes on behalf of clients.
But Olly – who has dealt with these before when he has mistakenly posted copyrighted material – says they are usually easy to deal with, and “you can easily tell the difference”.
“They’re established companies with millions of followers, so it’s very different,” he said.
Recent increase
These kinds of copyright scams are not new, with a version of the crime dating back to the early days of the internet, said Andres Guadamuz, reader in intellectual property law of the University of Sussex and an expert on digital copyright.
Previously, they were emails or letters sent to website owners claiming they owned the copyright to photos used online, and asking for money to avoid legal action.
Similar strikes have been used against YouTube users too.
But the recent increase in this method may be because AI has made it easier to do this on a larger scale.
“It’s a numbers game,” Guadamuz told the BBC.
“Pretty much anyone can now deploy [AI] that is going to automate all of this in some way,” he said.
It is also harder for the platforms – with billions of users – to police the racket, and distinguish the real copyright claims from the fake ones.
“The system was almost built with the assumption that the person that was making a copyright strike claim was legitimate,” he said.
By BBC
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