How to disable Instagram embeds (and why you should)

After a push by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) and the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), Instagram just added the ability to disable embeds on your posts.

The NPPA said it worked with Instagram for over a year and a half to make this happen. Photographers and other creators now don’t have to worry about the internet grifting their material if they don’t want to. Here are the steps to disabling embeds on Instagram:

Disable Instagram embeds on Mobile:

1. Go to your Instagram profile

Tap the three lines in the top right corner, then pick Settings.

First step: Go to your profile on Instagram.
Credit: Screenshot: Instagram

Choose Settings from this menu.
Credit: Screenshot: Instagram

2. In Settings, choose Account, then Embeds

In Settings, tap Account.
Credit: Screenshot: Instagram

Once in Account, choose Embeds
Credit: Screenshot: Instagram

3. Toggle off “Allow people to embed your posts or profile on other websites”

Toggle off Embeds to assure others can’t paste your Instagram feed post onto their site.
Credit: Screenshot: Instagram

There you have it — a way to prevent others from embedding the work you put on Instagram. In addition to mobile, you can also do this on the desktop version of the app.

Disable Instagram embeds on Desktop:

1. Go to your Instagram profile and click the Settings gear

How to get to your Instagram profile on desktop.
Credit: Screenshot: Instagram

Click the Settings gear to go to your settings.
Credit: Screenshot: Instagram

2. In Settings, click Privacy and Security

Click Privacy and Security once in Settings.
Credit: Screenshot: Instagram

3. Scroll to Embeds and uncheck “Allow people to embed your posts or profile on other websites”

Uncheck allowing embeds on Instagram.
Credit: Screenshot: Instagram

Why should you use this feature?

ASMP and NPAA fought for this feature because third-party websites bypassed copyright law just by embedding Instagram posts. The organizations referenced several court cases when talking to Facebook (which owns Instagram), including Sinclair v. Ziff Davis (full disclosure: Mashable is owned by Ziff Davis).

“NPPA believes this change is extremely important given all the lawsuits regarding embedding,” NPPA General Counsel Mickey H. Osterreicher said in a statement.

“We hope photographers will take advantage of this feature. We also expect that publications will cease trying to circumvent copyright protections by claiming they have a right to embed images and properly license images from the photographers who often risk their health and safety to make them.”

The addition of the new feature means that photographers and other creatives can display their work on Instagram knowing their rights as owners of that content will be a little more protected.