Instagram launched live video streaming in 2016. The feature began rolling out on November 21, 2016, allowing people to broadcast live for up to one hour through Instagram Stories.
Live video was part of Instagram’s broader expansion beyond still photography. Earlier that year, the app had increased its regular video limit from 15 seconds to 60 seconds, and in August it launched Stories, a format designed to compete directly with Snapchat. Live video extended that temporary, in-the-moment approach into real-time broadcasting.
The original version differed from many streaming services: broadcasts were not automatically preserved on the profile and disappeared when the stream ended. Instagram later added options to replay live broadcasts in Stories for 24 hours. This is why 2016 is the answer for the launch, while later dates refer to important upgrades.