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Two U.S. senators are calling on Meta to immediately scrap Instagram’s new Map feature, warning that the tool poses serious privacy and safety risks — particularly for children.
In a letter sent Friday to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., urged the company to “immediately abandon” the location-sharing function following a wave of online criticism from Instagram users. The bipartisan pair said they are “deeply concerned” the feature could expose minors’ real-time whereabouts to predators.
The Instagram Map, launched Wednesday, is marketed as a “lightweight” way for users to explore local events and connect with others by sharing their location in real time. Users can access the map through their direct messages. But many quickly raised alarms after noticing their geotagged Stories appearing on the map — even if they had opted out of live location sharing.
Meta insists the tool is opt-in only. “Location sharing is off unless you opt in,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri wrote Thursday on Threads, adding that the company would roll out design changes to address user confusion.
Blackburn and Blumenthal, longtime advocates for stronger child online protections, aren’t convinced. “While Meta has argued that the feature is inactive unless users opt in … some consumers have reported that their location was automatically shared without their consent,” the senators wrote. “This addition is a cause of particular concern for us when it comes to children and teens that are active on Instagram.”
The senators cited Meta’s “abysmal” track record on child safety, referencing past reports that AI chatbots on its platforms engaged in sexually explicit conversations with minors. “Allowing children to share their real time location … will only increase the dangers children face online due to your inaction,” they said.
Instagram’s parental controls allow guardians to be notified when a teen begins sharing their location and to disable the feature. But Senate Judiciary Committee data from other platforms suggests uptake is low: Discord and Snapchat told lawmakers in 2024 that fewer than 1% of parents use such controls. Meta has declined to release comparable figures.
The senators reiterated their call for Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act, which they reintroduced in May to require more robust parental controls, mandate reporting tools for malicious content, and hold companies legally accountable for protecting minors. Critics argue the bill risks overreach and could chill free speech.
“We urge you to immediately abandon Instagram’s map feature and instead institute meaningful protections for children online — they deserve nothing less,” Blackburn and Blumenthal concluded.
