Facebook demands that open source app Barinsta for Instagram stop

The developer behind the open source Instagram app Barinsta has been ordered by Facebook to stop the app. Facebook is mainly concerned with how users can anonymously read and download the Stories and posts of other users with Barinsta.

Developer Austin Huang must immediately stop the app from Facebook. Otherwise, the company says it will take ‘further steps’. In addition, Huang is no longer allowed to use Facebook and Instagram, not even for private purposes. He must also hand over the code of the app to Facebook. According to Facebook, Huang violates the terms of Instagram with his app, because the app collects and displays ‘incorrect’ content and user information from Instagram.

Huang writes that the source code of the open source app has now been taken offline and that he has adjusted all references to the app. At the same time, he does not seem to give up the fight right away and says he is collecting ‘resources’ to ‘navigate this crisis’. He does indicate that a legal battle against Facebook to be able to distribute the app again is ‘virtually impossible to win’.

Barinsta is an open source app that allows users without an account to see more parts of Instagram. For example, the app shows users publicly accessible posts and Stories; something that is not possible without an account. Without an account, users only see an image, but not the text. For example, Barinsta also lets users choose their own themes and layouts, and lets users read private messages without a read receipt. The app was previously called InstaGrabber.