A new Instagram feature is raising concerns as influencers find their posts promoting products without consent.
In late February, influencer Julia Berolzheimer, who has over a million followers, discovered that some of her posts were tagged with “Shop the look” buttons she hadn’t added. Clicking the links led users to lookalike products rather than the items she was actually promoting, potentially affecting her affiliate earnings.
Meta spokesperson Matthew T. Torres said the feature is a limited test aimed at helping users explore products matching their interests and that Meta does not take a commission. However, experts warn that such features could harm influencers’ credibility and income, as content may appear to endorse products they did not approve.
This issue isn’t limited to influencers—regular users may also have their posts leveraged to advertise products without their knowledge. Similar trials have been observed on platforms like TikTok, indicating a growing trend where social feeds function increasingly as shopping recommendation engines.
The development highlights the challenges of AI-driven commerce in social media, where user content can be repurposed in ways that blur the line between personal posts and advertising, raising ethical and business concerns for both creators and ordinary users.
