As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently took a look at Instagram’s terms of use. I found it interesting that it contained an opt-out provision for arbitration. A clause at the top of the page states the following in bold:

ARBITRATION NOTICE: EXCEPT IF YOU OPT-OUT AND EXCEPT FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF DISPUTES DESCRIBED IN THE ARBITRATION SECTION BELOW, YOU AGREE THAT DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND INSTAGRAM WILL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING, INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AND YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION.

(Side note – I found it rather lazy for Instagram not to include section numbers in its TOU. One of the reasons to have an opt-out provision is to guard against claims of unconscionability as in Hey, they had a choice! They could have opted out! It doesn’t make sense then to make the user scroll through the entire agreement and try to find the arbitration clause instead of just referring to it).

The arbitration clause itself permits the user to opt-out “within 30 days of the date that you first became subject to this arbitration provision.” Furthermore, the user has to provide written notice and send it to Instagram’s offices.

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