Instagram is putting unlabeled AI profiles on notice. On August 31, 2026, Instagram renamed its AI creator label to “AI-generated profile” and said profiles featuring an AI-generated person without that label may lose reach.
Instagram announced the policy change on its creators blog, framing the update as a transparency measure. The goal is to make it clearer when a profile features an AI-generated person rather than a human — a distinction that becomes less useful when the account says nothing about it.
Under the updated policy, accounts whose profile features an AI-generated person are expected to self-identify. Instagram said it will restrict the distribution of profiles that feature an AI-generated person and fail to add the label, while creators who add the label proactively will not see a change to their profile’s reach.
The policy targets accounts built around an AI-generated persona, not every creator who uses artificial intelligence. Creators who simply use AI tools as part of their creative process do not need to add the profile label, giving Instagram a boundary between an AI-based identity and AI-assisted production.
What the profile label changes
Creators who previously added the AI creator label will now see the new name. They can review the label, confirm that it still fits, or remove it if it no longer applies.
For an unlabeled profile featuring an AI-generated person, the creator can edit the profile and toggle on “AI-generated profile.” Once applied, the label appears on the profile and alongside the account’s content when the specific media does not already carry a label showing that it was created or edited with AI.
The profile-level label is separate from labels applied to individual posts. It appears on the profile page, in search results, next to content in Feed, Reels, and Stories, and beside comments or messages — covering the account rather than a single upload.
Instagram said the account-wide label is intended to increase transparency without affecting content distribution. That protection applies to creators who label their AI-generated profiles themselves; creators who do not appropriately label them may see limits to their profile’s reach.
Notifications, appeals, and defaults for young users
Instagram said it will notify owners of unlabeled profiles that it detects. Those owners can check Account Status to see whether the profile is no longer eligible to appear in recommendations, then add the AI-generated profile label or appeal the decision to become recommendable again.
The change arrives alongside a separate Meta commitment involving young users across its platforms. Meta has agreed to make many safety and wellness features the default option for young users, including several safety limitations that previously required manual activation.
That means Meta will shift those protections from an optional setting to the starting point for young users. Instagram’s profile label policy follows the same basic logic in a different form: put the relevant disclosure in place before users have to hunt for it.
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