Instagram faces class action lawsuit due to Terms of Service fiasco

By all accounts, Instagram has had a landmark year. Massive adoption throughout 2012 as Instagram boosted its user base by 1,100% since it was purchased in April for $1billion. Instagram has even recently surpassed popular microblogging service Twitter in terms of daily users. Twitter had 6.9 million daily users in August, while Instagram had 7.3 million. Yet, Instagram ends the year on a sour note with backlash resulting from their revised Terms of Service (which they reverted) and now a class action lawsuit from users.

According to Reuters,"The proposed class action lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court on Friday, a California Instagram users leveled breach of contract and other claims against the company." Instagram's new terms of service stated that the free photo service would use their user's photos in advertisements without compensation, triggering a sudden backlash from users.

Aside from the legal action, various users have openly criticized Instagram for their change in TOC which stated that Instagram could use their photos for advertising. Many Instagram users have shut down their accounts and some have even flocked to rival photo sharing services, the most notable of which is Flickr which now offers three-free months of Pro service for users.

Source: Reuters