Instagram has introduced a significant policy change, requiring users to have a public account with at least 1,000 followers to access its Live feature, marking a departure from its previous open approach.
The new restriction impacts smaller creators and casual users who previously utilized Live for personal interactions. When they attempt to stream, they are met with an ineligibility notice stating, “We changed requirements to use this feature. Only public accounts with 1,000 followers or more will be able to create live videos.” This change has sparked public backlash across social media platforms, with users demanding a reversal of the decision.
Instagram’s new policy now aligns with competitor TikTok, which enforces an identical 1,000-follower threshold for live streaming. In contrast, YouTube maintains a substantially lower barrier, requiring just 50 subscribers. According to Instagram, the change aims to “improve the overall Live consumption experience.” However, industry analysts suggest that there are two underlying motives: reducing low-quality broadcasts by prioritizing established creators, and cutting operational costs. Hosting livestreams represents significant infrastructure expenditure for parent company Meta, making broadcasts with minimal viewership financially unsustainable.
This strategic shift highlights Meta’s prioritization of professionally oriented content over community accessibility, fundamentally altering how smaller accounts engage with Instagram’s real-time features.
