Starting immediately — at least in practice — Instagram now demands that accounts portraying fake influencers carry an “AI-generated profile” badge right below the handle and display name within the main bio header.
In a blog post entitled Bringing More Transparency to AI-Generated Profiles on Instagram, the Meta-owned platform clarified on Monday that the aim is to ensure viewers recognize they are looking at an AI-generated profile instead of a real person. Previously, some of these accounts bore an AI creator label, which could be confused with a human who uses AI to produce content.
The AI-generated profile label is also set to appear on the AI influencer’s individual Feed posts, Reels, and Story overlays. Instagram warned that AI profiles failing to add the label will have their accounts automatically demoted, meaning their posts will be barred from being suggested to non-followers until the creator includes the label. These restrictions will affect Reels, Explore, and in‑feed recommendations for other Instagram users.
A Meta spokesperson told Gfaloe via email that the capability to label profiles has already been rolled out to everyone, but the process of spotting unlabeled accounts and alerting owners will roll out over the next few weeks.
Gfaloe examined several popular AI-generated accounts, such as Tilly Norwood, Aitana Lopez, Lil Miquela, and Imma. As of 11 a.m. PT on Monday, none of these displayed the “AI-generated profile” badge.
Instagram’s blog post explained that the change stems from user feedback urging any AI-driven identity to be clearly marked. “We’ve heard that people don’t like seeing a profile that appears human, only to discover later that the featured person is AI-generated,” the company stated.
Two years ago, Meta rolled out ways to tag AI-generated images across its social platforms, but it has not yet set policies to demote accounts that share such content. As with other social networks, Instagram is grappling with a surge of AI-generated clutter. In July, Instagram reversed an update that had let users create deepfakes of other people’s profiles.
In its post about AI-generated profiles, Instagram noted that accounts already carrying an AI creator label will get the opportunity to review and confirm the switch to an AI-generated profile or remove the label if circumstances have changed. This could occur, for example, if a human took over a previously AI-generated account.
Instagram added that there is an appeals process for account owners who believe they were incorrectly labeled. A successful appeal would restore the profile’s eligibility for recommendations.
There remain questions about how broadly the labels will be applied. For now, Instagram said the badge only shows on mobile devices, not on “computers,” which likely means it won’t appear on the desktop version of Instagram.
In a Help Center article, Instagram explains that the AI-generated profile label can help foster trust with audiences, boost transparency on the platform, and keep accounts eligible for recommendations.