(reuters/cnn)
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A class action lawsuit against Instagram has been filed in San Francisco federal court, following user outrage regarding the mobile photo sharing app's changed Terms of Service.
This appears to be the first civil lawsuit filed as a result of Instagram's service term changes, Reuters reports.
A California Instagram user claimed breach of contract, among other things, on behalf of themselves and others similarly affected. The lawsuit was filed Friday despite Instagram reverting some of the clauses it had announced it would change.
"In short, Instagram declares that 'possession is nine-tenths of the law and if you don't like it, you can't stop us,'" the lawsuit says.
Last week, Instagram announced that it had changed its Terms Of Service, which spurred widespread outrage from users and celebrities -- National Geographic even shut down its account, though it's now posting again. The new rules suggested Instagram would sell users' photos without compensation and introduced a mandatory arbitration clause, which would force users to waive their rights to file a class action lawsuit in most circumstances.
The backlash prompted Instagram founder and CEO Kevin Systrom to retreat partially a few days later, deleting language about displaying photos without compensation.
However, Instagram kept language that gave it the ability to place ads in conjunction with user content, and saying "that we may not always identify paid services, sponsored content, or commercial communications as such." It also kept the mandatory arbitration clause.
The lawsuit, filed by San Diego-based law firm Finkelstein & Krinsk, says customers who do not agree with Instagram's terms can cancel their profile but then forfeit rights to photos they had previously shared on the service.
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