Giveaway terms and conditions for Instagram need to say who can enter, how to enter, when entries close, what the prize is, how the winner is chosen and told, and who runs the giveaway. Instagram also requires a release of Instagram by each entrant and a statement that Instagram has no part in it. This is not legal advice.

What are Instagram's giveaway rules?

Instagram makes you responsible for running your giveaway lawfully. Its promotion guidelines (Help Center, read 14 October 2026) name what you answer for: the official rules, the offer terms and eligibility requirements such as age and residency limits, and compliance with the laws and approvals that apply to the promotion and its prizes.

Every promotion must also include a complete release of Instagram by each entrant, and an acknowledgement that the promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram. You must not tag content inaccurately or encourage entrants to, for example by asking people to tag themselves in photos they are not in.

Instagram says it will not help you administer the promotion, and that it cannot advise you on whether you need consent to use entrants' content. If you use Instagram to administer the promotion, you do so at your own risk.

What are the giveaway rules in the UK?

A UK giveaway sits under two sets of rules: the ASA's CAP Code, which covers how a promotion is run and advertised, and gambling law, which decides whether a prize draw is an illegal lottery. The ASA's advice says Section 8 of the CAP Code applies wherever a promotion appears and whoever runs it, whether brands or influencers on their own platforms (ASA, advice dated 1 September 2021, read 14 October 2026).

The Gambling Commission describes three things. A free draw has either all entries free or a paid route alongside a free one. A prize competition turns on skill, judgement or knowledge hard enough to put some people off or stop some from winning. A lottery cannot be run for commercial or private gain. The Commission says you need no licence for a free draw or prize competition if it meets the Gambling Act 2005 requirements, and that you may be running an illegal lottery if it does not (Gambling Commission, page last updated 23 October 2024).

Where a free draw has a paid route, the Commission's conditions are that people can choose to enter without paying, the free route is no dearer and no less convenient, and it is promoted as prominently. Its page says nothing about comments, follows or tags either way. CAP's Code points Great Britain to the Gambling Act 2005 and Northern Ireland to a separate 1985 Order. If your mechanic is unusual, take legal advice.

Three CAP rules matter most for a prize draw:

  • Rule 8.24: winners must be chosen by chance, by a computer process that produces verifiably random results or by an independent person, or under that person's supervision. The ASA upheld complaints where staff scrolled the comments and picked a winner by hand. The giveaway picker draws by chance and gives you a time-stamped copy, but whether any record counts as evidence is for the ASA to say.
  • Rule 8.15.1: prizes must be awarded as described, normally within 30 days.
  • Rules 8.14 and 8.15: run the promotion under proper supervision, with enough resources and time for every stage. The ASA upheld a complaint about a giveaway that asked entrants to like, tag a friend and subscribe, because the promoter could not show how it had estimated the response or would collect every entry.

What goes in the caption and what goes in the full terms?

Put the essentials in the post itself and link the rest. CAP rule 8.17 lists the significant conditions: how to enter, a closing date, the number and nature of prizes, restrictions such as age and place, and the promoter's name and address. The ASA's advice says it is unlikely to treat a social post as too short for them, so it expects them in the post, with a signpost to the full terms that works for the whole promotion (ASA, read 14 October 2026).

The fuller list in rule 8.28 can sit in the terms: any limit on entries, whether a cash alternative is possible, how and when winners will be told, and any plan to use winners in publicity. Do not change the terms mid-giveaway. Rule 8.17.4 allows a new closing date only in unavoidable circumstances.

Is there an Instagram giveaway terms and conditions template?

Yes. This one is our own wording, a starting point and not legal advice. Fill every bracket, delete what does not apply, and have a qualified person check it.

[Giveaway name]: official rules

1. Who runs it. [Full name or business name], [correspondence address], runs this giveaway. "We" means that person or business.

2. Who can enter. People aged [18] or over who live in [countries]. We, our family and anyone who helped run the giveaway cannot enter.

3. How to enter. Comment [keyword] under [the post] between [start date and time, timezone] and [closing date and time, timezone]. Entry is free and needs no purchase. Each person has one entry, and extra comments add no chances.

4. The prize. [Number] winner(s) each receive [exact prize]. [There is no cash alternative.] The prize cannot be transferred.

5. Choosing winners. After closing we draw [number] winner(s) and [number] alternate(s) at random from all valid entries using [name of the tool], and we keep a time-stamped record of the draw. [Name of the independent person, if one watches.]

6. Telling winners. We message each winner on Instagram by [date], and try again by [second route] if there is no reply. A winner has [number] days to reply. If they do not reply or are not eligible, the prize passes to the next alternate.

7. Receiving the prize. We send the prize within [30] days of closing, at no cost to the winner.

8. Proof of the award. On request we give the winner's surname and county, and the winning entry. Tell us before you enter if you object, or want us to share less. We may still have to give it to the advertising regulator if asked.

9. Publicity. [Delete if unused.] The winner agrees we may post their Instagram username and a photo of the prize.

10. Your information. We use your Instagram username to run the giveaway and contact winners. [Say what else, how long you keep it, and link your privacy notice.]

11. Instagram. This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram. Each entrant fully releases Instagram from any claim connected with it.

12. Changes. We will not change these rules or the closing date once the giveaway is open, unless something outside our control makes it unavoidable and nobody who entered is made worse off.

13. Law. [The law that applies where you are.]

Clauses 1 to 9 and 12 follow CAP rules 8.17, 8.23, 8.24 and 8.28, and clause 11 is Instagram's requirement. If entry is a keyword comment, comment-to-DM automation in inDM can send each person a DM with a link to these rules, as set out in how to run an Instagram giveaway with comment automation.

Do I have to label a giveaway as an ad?

Sometimes. The ASA's advice says that when a brand gives an influencer a payment or any other incentive, or the influencer has a personal or commercial connection to the brand, content about the brand must be obviously identifiable as advertising, with a prominent "Ad" label up front (ASA, advice dated 6 August 2026). Instagram's Paid partnership label can be enough if it is clear and upfront, but the ASA's 2026 research found it may not be enough alone, so add "Ad" if unsure. The page does not mention giveaways by name, so treat it as general advice and not a ruling on yours.

Do the rules change outside the UK?

Yes, they vary, and this page lists only what we could source. Instagram's guidelines make you responsible for the registration and approvals a promotion needs, and they open with a note telling anyone running a commercial promotion in Brazil to comply with the regulation and supervision of its Secretariat of Prizes and Bets. In the EU, one rule is the same in every member state: Annex I of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive lists as unfair creating a false impression that someone has won a prize when there is no prize, or when claiming it costs money (EUR-Lex consolidated text, read 14 October 2026). For anything else, check each country where entrants live.

What about the details entrants give you?

Say in your rules what you will do with them. CAP's Code tells promoters to comply with data protection law, with guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office. See do you need consent to send automated Instagram DMs for the messaging side.

Where this stops working

This page is not legal advice, and a template cannot know your prize, your country or your risks. We read the Gambling Commission's page for free draws and prize competitions but not its other guidance, so paid entry, raffles and charity draws are outside this page. We did not verify any EU country's prize laws or read Meta's other policies. Instagram can change its guidelines, so read them on the day you publish.

Write the rules first, put the essentials in the caption, and link the rest.

Sources

All read on 14 October 2026: