Short answer: An Instagram giveaway is a promotion that offers a prize to people who enter on Instagram. The business that runs it is responsible for running it lawfully, including its official rules, its offer terms and eligibility, and the rules that apply to it and its prizes. Instagram says it won’t help administer it. Meta and Florida also set rules on how people enter and on larger prizes.
Before you read: We based this guide on Instagram’s Promotion Guidelines, Facebook’s policies for Pages, section 849.094 of the Florida Statutes, the FTC’s answers on endorsements and Instagram’s help center. We read them on November 10, 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.
The rules Meta and Florida set
Meta sets rules of its own: Instagram’s Promotion Guidelines require a complete release of Instagram by each entrant. They also require an acknowledgment that the promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram. The guidelines bar tagging content inaccurately or encouraging inaccurate tags, such as people tagging themselves in photos they aren’t in. Meta’s policies for Facebook Pages, groups and events add that a promotion there can’t require or incentivize sharing, reposting, tagging others or publicizing it in any other way.
In Florida, section 849.094 of the Florida Statutes covers game promotions, such as a contest or sweepstakes tied to selling consumer products or services, with chance and a prize. It covers those run by an operator: a retailer, or anyone running a nationally advertised one. Among other things, it makes it unlawful for an operator to require an entry fee, payment or proof of purchase, or to arbitrarily reject entries. Failing to award the prizes offered and publishing false, deceptive or misleading advertising for the promotion are unlawful too. Above $5,000.00 in prizes, it adds further requirements, which the giveaways section of our Miami social media page sums up. It also has the operator post the rules where people can enter and publish them in all advertising. An ad can carry only their material terms if it gives a website address, toll-free number or mailing address where the full rules can be found for the whole promotion. That sentence of the statute names no prize amount.
Write the rules and the post
In our view, put the official rules on a page of your website and link to it from the post, next to the end date and how to enter.
Instagram’s help center says you can pin up to 3 posts you share to the top of your profile. You tap one of your posts, then Options in the top right, then Pin to main grid.
A pinned post can be removed from the top of your profile at any time, the same page says.
When people enter with a comment
Instagram hides some comments on its own. Its Hide unwanted comments setting, for comments with common offensive words, phrases or emojis, is on by default, its help center says.
Hidden comments are still included in your total comment count, and the person who wrote one won’t know it was hidden.
Others can see them by tapping View hidden comments at the bottom of the comments section. You can also unhide the ones you don’t find offensive.
By default, everyone can comment on your posts. On public accounts, you can use your settings to allow comments only from people you follow, your followers, or both.
In our view, open View hidden comments before the draw, so a filter doesn’t leave a valid entry out.
When entering means posting about your business
Some giveaways ask entrants to post about the business with a hashtag. The FTC’s answers on its Endorsement Guides say many readers would likely not understand a hashtag like #XYZ_Rocks to mean the posts were made as part of a contest.
They would likely also miss that the posters got something of value, which in that case is a chance to win the prize.
Making “contest” or “sweepstakes” part of the hashtag, as in #XYZ_Sweepstakes, should be enough, the FTC says. The word “sweeps” probably isn’t.
The same answers say #sweepstakes by itself isn’t a good enough disclosure, and give #JKLCola_Sweepstakes as a clearer one. They add that you should tell entrants where to make the disclosure, such as at the beginning of the post.
Our guide to Instagram hashtags explains how hashtags work on the platform.
Instagram says it can’t advise on whether you need consent to use content that entrants post, or on how to get it.
In our view, ask an entrant in writing before you use their photo or video in an ad or on your website.
A giveaway with another business
A giveaway run with a partner business can go out as one collab reel. Our guide to Instagram collab posts explains how the reel then shows on both profiles and is shared with both accounts’ followers.
In our view, name both businesses in the official rules, and agree in advance on who picks the winner and who ships the prize.
Picking the winner and delivering the prize
In our view, draw the winner at random from every valid entry, keep a record of how you drew, and announce the result in the giveaway post.
Instagram’s help center lists people asking for advance fees to receive a prize among the signs of a scam. It describes lottery scams that use accounts impersonating someone you know or a legitimate organization.
Its About This Account screen shows when an account was created, the country where it’s based and any former usernames.
In our view, say in the rules that you’ll contact the winner only from your own account, and that you’ll never ask for a fee or a password.
After the giveaway
If entrants gave you their email address, our guide to building an email list covers opt-in and confirmation.
With our social media management service, we plan, design and post on your Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, in English and Spanish, for businesses in Miami-Dade.
Before you launch an Instagram giveaway
In our view, check before you start:
- The official rules sit on a page you link to, with the dates, who can enter and the prize.
- The rules carry the release and the acknowledgment Instagram requires.
- In Florida, entering costs nothing: no fee, no payment and no proof of purchase.
- Posts made to enter use a hashtag with “contest” or “sweepstakes” in it.
- Hidden comments are checked, and the draw covers every valid entry.
- You contact the winner only from your own account, and never ask for a fee.
RememberThe business runs an Instagram giveaway itself: the official rules, the offer terms, who can enter, the draw and the rules that apply to it. Meta and Florida add rules on entries and prizes, and the FTC says posts made to enter should show they’re part of a contest.
Questions about Instagram giveaways
How do you do a giveaway on Instagram?
Instagram leaves it to the business that runs it. You write the official rules and set the offer terms and who can enter. Instagram requires the promotion to include a release from each entrant and a statement that Instagram has no part in it, and says it won’t help run it.
Do posts made to enter a giveaway need a disclosure?
The FTC’s answers on its Endorsement Guides say a hashtag like #XYZ_Rocks likely wouldn’t tell many readers the post was part of a contest. Making “contest” or “sweepstakes” part of the hashtag should be enough, and entrants should be told where to put it.
How do I keep a giveaway post at the top of my profile?
Instagram’s help center says you can pin up to 3 posts you share to the top of your profile. Tap one of your posts, then Options in the top right, then Pin to main grid. You can remove a pinned post at any time.
How can people tell a real giveaway from a fake account?
Instagram’s help center lists people asking for advance fees to receive a prize among the signs of a scam. In our view, its About This Account screen helps too: it shows when an account was created, the country where it’s based and any former usernames.
Can I use the photos people post to enter?
Instagram says it can’t advise on whether you need consent to use content that entrants post, or on how to get it. Its Promotion Guidelines leave the official rules and the laws that apply to the promotion to the business that runs it.
Sources
All read on November 10, 2026. From Instagram: its Promotion Guidelines. From its help center: Pin a post to the top of your profile on Instagram. Also Hide comments or message requests you don’t want to see on Instagram and Abuse, Spam and Scams. From Meta: Pages, Groups, and Events, its policies for Facebook Pages. The Florida Statutes: section 849.094, Game promotion in connection with sale of consumer products or services, on the Florida Legislature’s website. From the FTC: FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking.