Instagram Giveaways and Contests: Meta's Rules and Türkiye's Law

Two separate layers of rules

A giveaway post answers to two rulebooks: Meta's Promotion Guidelines for Instagram and the Turkish legislation on prize draws. This article covers what can be verified from official sources on both; it is not legal advice, so have a campaign checked by a professional first.

What Meta's Promotion Guidelines say

The Promotion Guidelines in the Instagram Help Center say that if you use Instagram to announce or run a contest or sweepstakes, its lawful operation is your responsibility:

• The official rules, offer terms and eligibility requirements such as age and residency restrictions are on you.
• So is compliance with the regulations that govern the promotion and its prizes, including registration and regulatory approvals.
• You must not inaccurately tag content or encourage users to do so, for example by asking people to tag themselves in photos they are not in.
• The promotion must include a complete release of Instagram by each entrant.
• It must acknowledge that it is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram.

If you write "rules in the link in bio," there needs to be an actual rules document behind that link.

Where giveaways meet engagement bait

Meta defines engagement bait for Facebook as posts that explicitly request engagement for purposes other than a specific call to action and reduces their distribution; Instagram's recommendation guidelines treat practices meant to artificially drive engagement as ineligible for recommendation. An entry condition can be a legitimate call to action, but if the post is nothing but "tag to win," the line blurs. Keep the mechanic simple and give the post value beyond the prize.

Prize draws in Türkiye: scope and permit

Non-cash lotteries and prize draws are governed by the regulation of the Millî Piyango İdaresi (National Lottery Administration; Official Gazette 4 October 2006, no. 26309, amended 16 June 2022). A scheme that promises prizes to promote a product or service and picks winners by a draw needs a permit from the Administration, applied for at least fifteen days before the campaign starts, with a fee.

Three cases outside the regulation's scope matter for social media:

• Everyone who meets pre-announced conditions receives a prize, with no draw.
• Competitions decided on knowledge, skill or talent, provided no fee is charged and they don't market a product or service.
• The market value of the prize one person can win is below two percent of the exemption amount in the Inheritance and Gift Tax Law; that figure changes yearly, so confirm the current threshold.

If the prize depends on chance and promotes a brand, assume a permit is required.

Once you have the permit: what the post must contain

No promotion, announcement or advertising may take place, and no campaign may start, before the permit is granted. Every announcement must carry three notices: the Administration's permit with its date and number; that under-18s may not participate and won't receive a prize even if they win; and that taxes and legal obligations beyond those included in the prize price fall on the winner. The draw takes place before a notary, results are announced as promised in advance, and prizes are delivered within the committed period.

Advertising law: a giveaway announcement is an advertisement

Under Türkiye's Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices, ads built on draws, competitions or promotions must state the promotion's start and end dates and the prize delivery conditions, and the prize may not differ from what was promised. A social media article added on 1 July 2026 requires giveaway and campaign content that promotes a brand to be labelled "Reklam" or "Tanıtım."

Pre-publish checklist

• Does the prize depend on chance? If so, is the permit in hand and was nothing announced before it?
• Are the permit date and number, the under-18 warning and the tax notice in the post?
• Is the release of Instagram and the "not associated with Instagram" statement written out?
• If it runs on behalf of a brand, is "Reklam" or "Tanıtım" present?

Check it with VidSense

VidSense scans your text before you publish and flags risky phrasing such as absolute promises and pushy calls to action; the mandatory notices are yours to verify against the list above. Create a free account and scan your text in the text check; summaries of platform rules are in the policy resources.

Source: Promotion Guidelines at help.instagram.com, recommendation guidelines at help.instagram.com, engagement bait at transparency.meta.com, the prize draw regulation at mevzuat.gov.tr, and the advertising regulation at mevzuat.gov.tr.