New Delhi, May 4 -- In a decisive shift that could reshape the economics of social media, Instagram is tightening its grip on what it considers "original" content and sidelining the vast ecosystem of repost accounts that have long thrived on aggregation.

reward creation, not curation.

For years, Instagram's algorithm has evolved in incremental bursts from chronological feeds to AI-driven recommendations but the 2026 update marks one of its most consequential pivots yet. At its core is a simple premise: if you didn't make it, you may no longer benefit from it.

A Platform Rewriting Its Rules

Instagram's new policy explicitly targets what it calls "unoriginal content," effectively restricting reach of content aggregators that rely on rep...