Instagram giveaway rules for businesses: Meta and TikTok terms, and prize law in the US, UK and Germany

The same two layers apply on TikTok. The platform's terms govern entry mechanics and required statements. Prize law where entrants live decides whether the draw is legal, what the official rules must contain and how the winner is picked.

This page covers both layers for a business running its own giveaway: Instagram and the rest of Meta, TikTok, the United States, Great Britain and Germany. It ends with a field list for the official rules and a checklist for a fair draw. Every rule below was read on the platform's, regulator's or legislature's own page on 28 and 29 September 2026. Check the linked text again before you launch.

Promotions involving alcohol or aimed at children carry extra rules (the CAP Code alone has separate rules on both) that are not covered here.

The two layers at a glance

Passing one layer does not pass the other. Instagram says so itself: the business running a promotion is responsible for its lawful operation.

What are Instagram's giveaway rules?

Instagram's Promotion Guidelines make the business that communicates or administers a promotion responsible for the official rules, the offer terms and eligibility requirements (Instagram's examples: age and residency limits), and compliance with the rules that govern the promotion and its prizes, including registration and regulatory approvals. The guidelines then set three requirements:

1. Each entrant gives a complete release of Instagram.
2. The promotion acknowledges that it is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram.
3. You do not tag content inaccurately or encourage users to. Instagram's example: do not ask people to tag themselves in photos they are not in.

Instagram will not help administer the promotion, and you run it at your own risk.

Meta's Community Standards, which cover Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads, add a Spam policy against exchanging anything for engagement such as likes, follows, shares and hashtag use. Its listed examples include offering a chance to win "cash or cash equivalents in exchange for engagement" and offering "anything of monetary value in exchange for engagement" (Meta's example: an iPhone for liking a Page). Meta does not define cash equivalents.

On a Facebook Page, Meta's Pages, Groups and Events Policies go further. Besides the same release and non-affiliation statement (naming Meta), they say a promotion must not require or incentivise participants to share, repost or tag others.

Meta names cash giveaways and outright gifts for engagement, and publishes no finer line for a chance to win a product. On the text alone, the lowest-risk mechanic on Instagram asks for an entry, such as a comment with an answer or a form, rather than a like, follow or share.

What are TikTok's giveaway rules?

TikTok's Community Guidelines have no section on contests or sweepstakes; read in full in the version in force since 24 September 2026, they mention giveaways only inside a definition of trade. The rules that reach a brand giveaway sit in four places.

1. Commercial disclosure. Under Commercial Disclosure and Paid Marketing, content that promotes your own business, product or service must be disclosed with TikTok's content disclosure setting. A giveaway video from a brand account is that kind of content. If TikTok finds undisclosed commercial content it may reduce its visibility or apply the setting itself; repeated failures can lead to temporary posting restrictions or a ban.
2. Engagement. Under Deceptive Behaviors and Fake Engagement, content that tries to manipulate people into inflating likes or follows is not eligible for the For You feed; the examples include "like-for-like" promises and false incentives for following. A giveaway that pays out is not a false incentive, but follow-to-win sits close to that line. If For You reach matters, do not make a follow the entry.
3. TikTok Shop (US). The Giveaways and Promotions Policy for sellers and creators requires free entry, TikTok Shop's official LIVE Giveaway feature (where it is unavailable, only join-to-win or comment-to-win during a LIVE), items valued below $500, no cash or gift cards, no extra actions beyond entering, terms stated in the content and no gamification.
4. Paid promotion. TikTok's ad policy on gambling and games defines sweepstakes and giveaways (prizes won by chance, typically with no purchase) separately from lotteries (payment required to enter).

None of the TikTok pages cited here asks for a release of TikTok or a non-affiliation statement. Adding one costs a sentence and lets one rules page serve both platforms.

When is a giveaway an illegal lottery?

The three laws below start from the same elements: a prize, chance and payment. A giveaway with all three is a lottery. Remove one and it usually is not.

One British detail catches "answer a question" draws. Under section 14(5), a skill test counts as chance if it cannot reasonably be expected to stop a significant proportion of entrants from winning, nor a significant proportion of would-be entrants from taking part. An easy question does not turn a paid draw into a competition.

When do New York and Florida require registration and a bond?

Both states set a filing and bonding duty once the announced prize value passes $5,000.

Worked example. A brand offers one prize worth $3,000 and ten runner-up prizes worth $250 each. Total announced value: $3,000 + 10 × $250 = $5,500, over both thresholds. For an entry period opening on 1 December, the New York statement is due by 1 November and the Florida filing by 24 November. Each state needs a trust account or bond of $5,500. All eleven prizes exceed $25, so all eleven winners go on the lists. Cut the runner-up prizes to seven: $3,000 + 7 × $250 = $4,750, and neither filing nor bond is triggered. Florida's operator duties in subsection (2), including the bans on requiring a purchase and on failing to award prizes, apply at any prize value.

Other states' laws are not covered here.

What does the UK CAP Code require?

Section 8 of the CAP Code covers promotional marketing, and the CAP advice on prize draws in social media says it applies to promotions wherever they appear and whoever runs them, brand or influencer. The points the ASA's social-media rulings turn on:

• Conditions go in the post. Rule 8.17 lists significant conditions: how to enter, closing date, prizes, restrictions. The ASA is unlikely to accept that a social post is too short to carry them, and it upheld complaints about Instagram promotion ads that neither referenced nor linked the terms (PrettyLittleThing, 16 May 2018).
• Say where entries count. A promotion open across several platforms has to say so in the ad (Hughes TV and Audio, 1 September 2021).
• Only use entry methods you can track. The ASA upheld complaints where bonus entries for sharing a post to Instagram Stories could not be credited (PrettyLittleThing.com, 1 September 2021; Bellatricks, 1 September 2021). In the PrettyLittleThing case it noted that a share from a private account cannot be checked.
• Plan for the response. Rule 8.10 asks for a reasonable estimate of demand. An Instagram draw with over a million likes was found unfairly administered, with no evidence of how the response was estimated or entries collated (Molly-Mae Hague, 3 March 2021).
• Draw at random, with evidence. Rule 8.24 requires a verifiably random computer process or an independent person. A staff member scrolling the comments and picking one is not independent (Bellatricks, 1 September 2021).
• Award and publish. Prizes go out as described, normally within 30 days (rule 8.15.1). Promoters publish or make available the surname and county of major winners, after telling entrants and letting them object (rule 8.28.5).

What applies to a Gewinnspiel in Germany?

• Recognisable, with clear terms. Under §6(1) no. 4 DDG, a prize competition or Gewinnspiel with an advertising character must be clearly recognisable as such, and its conditions of participation must be easily accessible and stated clearly and unambiguously. No. 2 requires that the person on whose behalf the post is made is clearly identifiable.
• Always unlawful towards consumers. The UWG annex lists offering a competition or prize promotion without awarding the prizes or a reasonable equivalent (no. 19), and falsely claiming a consumer has won or will win a prize that does not exist, or that can only be claimed by paying money or bearing a cost (no. 31).
• Entrant data. Where the GDPR applies, Article 13 of the GDPR requires telling entrants, when their data is collected, who the controller is, the purposes and legal basis, and the recipients.

Do entrants' posts need a disclosure?

In the US, yes, when entering means posting about your product. The FTC's Endorsement Guides FAQ says a hashtag like #XYZ_Rocks does not tell readers a post was made to enter a contest. Adding "contest" or "sweepstakes" to the hashtag (#XYZ_Contest) should be enough; "sweeps" probably is not, and #sweepstakes on its own is not enough; the FTC's clearer example names the brand (#JKLCola_Sweepstakes). The FTC also says to tell entrants where to put the disclosure, such as at the start of the post, and that advertisers should not encourage endorsements through features that cannot carry a disclosure, such as a like button.

For paid creator partnerships, the rules by country are in #ad disclosure rules for brands. If the giveaway artwork is AI-generated, see AI content labels on social media. If an agency runs the giveaway for a client, settle at onboarding who is named as promoter and who keeps the entry records.

What must the official rules include?

Publish the rules on a page you control, link it from every giveaway post, and keep it live for the whole promotion. The fields, and what asks for each:

How do you pick a giveaway winner fairly?

1. Before launch, list every entry method and how you will capture it. Drop any you cannot track.
2. Write disqualification criteria into the rules. Florida bars arbitrarily rejecting entries, and CAP rule 8.27 allows withholding a prize only when the published criteria were not met.
3. At closing time, export the full entry list and keep the file.
4. Remove invalid entries against the written criteria only, and record why each was removed.
5. Draw with a verifiably random computer process, or have an independent person draw or supervise.
6. Keep the evidence: the entry file, the method, the result and a time stamp.
7. Notify the winner as the rules say, and award the prize, normally within 30 days.
8. Publish or make available the winner information the rules promised; file winner lists where New York or Florida require them.

Frequently asked questions

Is "like, follow and tag a friend" allowed on Instagram?

Instagram's Promotion Guidelines do not ban tagging friends, only inaccurate tagging. Meta's Spam policy lists cash giveaways for engagement, and offering anything of monetary value for engagement, as violations; it does not name a chance to win a product. On a Facebook Page, requiring or rewarding tags or shares is not allowed.

Can I require a purchase to enter?

Not without a lottery problem. Florida bans requiring a purchase for a game promotion. In Great Britain a paid, chance-based draw is a lottery unless a free route meets Schedule 2. In Germany, payment for a chance-based win is gambling that needs a licence.

Can I pick the winner from the comments myself?

Not in the UK if you choose by hand. The ASA upheld a complaint where a staff member scrolled the comments and picked one. Use a verifiably random computer process or an independent person, and keep the evidence.

Sources

All read on 28 or 29 September 2026.

• Instagram Help Center, "Promotion Guidelines". help.instagram.com
• Meta Transparency Center, Community Standards: overview and Spam policy. transparency.meta.com
• Meta, Pages, Groups and Events Policies: Promotions. facebook.com
• TikTok Community Guidelines (effective 24 September 2026), Integrity and Authenticity: Deceptive Behaviors and Fake Engagement. tiktok.com
• TikTok Community Guidelines (effective 24 September 2026), Regulated Goods, Services, and Commercial Activities: definition of trade; Commercial Disclosure and Paid Marketing. tiktok.com
• TikTok Shop Academy (US), "Giveaways and Promotions Policy". seller-us.tiktok.com
• TikTok Advertising Policies, "Gambling and Games". ads.tiktok.com
• Federal Trade Commission, "FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking", social media contests. ftc.gov
• California Penal Code §319. leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
• New York General Business Law §369-e. nysenate.gov
• Florida Statutes §849.094 (2026). leg.state.fl.us
• Gambling Act 2005, section 14 and Schedule 2, paragraph 8. legislation.gov.uk
• CAP Code, Section 08: Promotional marketing. asa.org.uk
• ASA/CAP AdviceOnline, "Promotional marketing: Prize draws in social media". asa.org.uk
• ASA/CAP AdviceOnline, "Promotional marketing: Prize draws". asa.org.uk
• Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz (DDG), §6. gesetze-im-internet.de
• Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb (UWG), annex to §3(3). gesetze-im-internet.de
• Glücksspielstaatsvertrag 2021, §§3 and 4 (Bavarian publication). gesetze-bayern.de
• Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), Article 13. eur-lex.europa.eu