RealScan can analyze images and videos directly from social media posts. Paste a link to a public post, and RealScan downloads and analyzes the media so you don’t have to save it and upload it yourself.
Social link scanning isn’t available on the Free API plan.
Supported platforms
Platform | Videos | Images |
Yes | Yes | |
Yes | Yes | |
Threads | No | Yes |
TikTok | Yes | No |
X (Twitter) | Yes | Yes |
YouTube | Yes | No |
Links from other platforms, such as Bluesky, LinkedIn, and Reddit, aren't supported.
Scan a social media link
In the web app, click RealScan.
Click Submit media and select the Link tab.
Paste the link into the field. A check mark appears when RealScan accepts the link.
To scan more posts at the same time, click Add another link and paste the next link.
Optional: click Add tags to tag your scans.
Click Submit link.
RealScan downloads the media from each link and analyzes it. Results appear in your scan list when processing completes.
Before you submit a link
The post must be public and still available. RealScan only downloads public content. It can't access private accounts, friends-only posts, or posts that have been deleted or have expired.
The post must contain an image or video. Text-only posts can't be analyzed.
Link to the post, not the file. Direct links to an image file, such as Instagram links starting with
scontent-, aren't accepted.Videos have the same limits as uploads: 250 MB or 30 minutes, whichever comes first. To analyze a longer video, split it into shorter clips and upload them on the File tab.
Posts with several images
When a post has more than one image, such as a Facebook post with several photos, an Instagram carousel, or an X post with several photos, RealScan analyzes the first image only. The results don’t show that the post contained additional images.
On Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, there's no link to a specific image yet. To analyze every image, save the images and upload them on the File tab instead.
On Threads, a link to one post in a thread analyzes that post only, not the rest of the thread.
On X, you can analyze any image in a post by linking to it directly: add
/photo/and the image's position to the post link, such asx.com/<user>/status/<id>/photo/2for the second image. Submit one link per image.
Supported links by platform
Link type | Example | Supported |
Photo link |
| Yes |
Photo on a Page or profile |
| Yes |
Share link |
| Yes |
Mobile or web link |
| Yes |
Short link |
| Yes |
Post with several images | Any supported link | First image only |
Album |
| No |
Story | Story link | Not supported yet |
Private or friends-only post | Any | No |
Link type | Example | Supported |
Post |
| Yes |
Post link copied with the Share button |
| Yes |
Share link |
| Yes |
Post link with the username |
| Not supported yet. Try removing the username so the link reads |
Reel |
| Yes |
Reel link copied with the Share button |
| Yes |
Reel link from the Reels feed |
| Not supported yet. Change |
Carousel post |
| First image only |
Highlight | Highlight link | Yes, analyzed as a video |
Story |
| Not supported yet |
Profile photo | Profile link | No |
Direct image file link |
| No |
Post from a private account | Any | No |
Threads
Link type | Example | Supported |
Post |
| Yes |
Short link |
| Yes |
Share link |
| Yes |
Post with several images | Any supported link | First image only |
Post with a video | Any supported link | Not supported yet |
Text-only post | Any | No |
TikTok
Link type | Example | Supported |
Video |
| Yes |
Short link |
| Yes |
Link shared from the TikTok app |
| Not supported yet |
Mobile link |
| Not supported yet |
Images | Any | No |
X (Twitter)
Link type | Example | Supported |
Post |
| Yes |
Post on the old Twitter domain |
| Yes |
Mobile link |
| Yes |
Specific image in a post |
| Yes, analyzes that image |
Reply or quote post |
| Yes, analyzes the reply's own image, not the original post's |
Post with several images |
| First image only |
YouTube
YouTube links are analyzed as videos only.
Troubleshooting
RealScan won't accept the link. When you paste a link RealScan can't use, it shows Unsupported URL and you can't submit it.
Check that the platform and link type are supported. This covers unsupported platforms and links that aren't formatted correctly.
For Instagram links containing a username before/p/, such ashttps://www.instagram.com/username/p/ABC123/. Try removing the username so the link readshttps://www.instagram.com/p/ABC123/. Keep the post code unchanged, and confirm that the edited link opens the same post before submitting it.
For Instagram links containing/reels/, such ashttps://www.instagram.com/reels/ABC123/, change/reels/to/reel/so the link readshttps://www.instagram.com/reel/ABC123/. Keep the reel code unchanged, and confirm that the edited link opens the same reel before submitting it.
The scan result shows None. If RealScan accepts the link but can't download the media, the scan list shows None in the Conclusion column.
When you open the scan, it shows Download failed with a message that the media couldn't be downloaded from the link. The most common causes are posts that are private, deleted, or expired; posts with no image or video; and videos that exceed the size or length limit.
A supported link fails. Downloads can occasionally fail on the first attempt but work on a second try.
Submit the link again, or save the media and upload it on the File tab. If it still fails, click Report an issue on the scan page, use the chat in the bottom right corner of the web app, or email support@realitydefender.com.
If you submit links through the API, failed downloads include a reason code. See the API reference for Social Media URL upload.