Breaking Instagram
IG Media media_url omitted for protected or download-disabled media
What changed
The IG Media endpoint now leaves out media_url when a video has copyrighted or licensed audio, is flagged for a copyright violation, or is a reel whose owner turned off downloads. The request still returns 200 and the other fields are present. The change applies to all versions on both graph.facebook.com and graph.instagram.com.
What it means
Apps that download or re-display Instagram media must treat media_url as optional and fall back to permalink or thumbnail_url.
Primary sources
Checked against the source 25 Oct 2026
Get an email when a new API change is added
Follow new entries with the RSS feed. Each platform also has its own feed, for example X or Meta.