​Over the last few years, Meta has been laser-focused on creator, performance and affiliate. The tech behemoth has invested in partnership-focused AI tools, expanded its creator programmes, and, most recently, updated Instagram’s affiliate links.

But as Meta expands its affiliate arsenal, some creators allege that not all of its efforts have been above board.

Influencer alleges Instagram stole content

In February, influencer and entrepreneur Julia Berolzheimer made a post on her Trade Offs Substack, alleging that Instagram was “stealing” her content to sell knockoffs via its Shop the Look feature.

In the post, Berolzheimer wrote that the AI feature, a beta rollout, had been added to her posts without her consent: “When followers tap it, Instagram serves them product suggestions generated by AI. Not my affiliate links. Not brands I chose. Not products I’d recommend.”

According to Berolzheimer, she was unable to see the feature herself and only found out when notified by a follower.

And Berolzheimer said she wasn’t alone in this, nor was it just creators affected.

“People who represent and work with some of the biggest brands in the world — and I mean billion dollar businesses/brands — reached out to say the same thing was happening on their pages.”

​The implications of this stretch beyond just a third-party gobbling up commission, Berolzheimer said, noting that the feature has the potential to weaken both audience trust and brand integrity.

​Meta’s responseto the debacle stated that the feature was a limited test intended to help people “explore products that match their interests when they’re viewing posts or reels.” It also shared that it wasn’t receiving commissionfor the overlay, and would continue to process creator feedback before rolling the feature out more broadly.

Will creators leave the platform? 

​So, where does this leave creators? 

​According to Tricia Meyer, Executive Director of the Performance Marketing Association (PMA), it boils down to something that’s perhaps a little hard to stomach.

​“When you build your business on top of another business, you’re at their mercy — whether your business was a content site that’s dependent upon Google traffic and now you’re freaking out because of LLMs or you’re an influencer that’s built their traffic on Instagram or TikTok,” said Meyer.

This is something Berolzheimer echoed, noting that for this reason, she has never stopped publishing on her own website, even when it was tempting.

​“Our blog is ours. It’s a place where the relationship with our reader is direct, where the trust they’ve placed in us is protected, and where no one can insert a knockoff between us and the person on the other side of the screen,” she said.

However, switching platforms comes with risks, too.

“The bottom line is there are only so many video platforms and people that are engaged with you on TikTok are not going to want to join your mailing list,” said Meyer, adding that switching gears could lead to creators losing a chunk of their followers.

Against this backdrop, there doesn’t seem to be a silver bullet solution, but Meyer said that creators will have to become more vigilant.

“It’s going to take education; people have to pay attention to see that these things are happening, before it gets to a point where this is fully rolled out, and people are losing money. Don’t let it get to that point,” she said, adding that influencers may need to start monitoring their own content more closely.

But there’s also strength in numbers, the PMA Exec said, whether that’s creators banding together or big brands and industry groups using their weight to influence change.

While the hubbub has calmed, whether the feature is still running or not remains unclear; one thing that is? Meta is not stepping away from commerce, or affiliate, for that matter. 

Its most recent affiliate link update — a feature enabling creators to embed affiliate links into reels — is just one nod that has demonstrated that. For creators, this could be the carrot that keeps them on the platform.