Senators from both parties urge Instagram to disable its new map feature due to concerns for children’s safety.

Concerns Over Instagram’s New Map Features for Child Safety

Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, along with Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, are advocating for the elimination of new map features on Instagram. Their efforts stem from worries about potential risks to child safety.

In a letter sent to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the lawmakers emphasized that children could be put in harm’s way with the introduction of these map tools.

“For years, we have raised concerns about real-time location sharing on social media, especially among minors. We must prioritize the safety of our children instead of exposing them to threats, including online predators,” they wrote.

According to Meta, Instagram users have the option to utilize the Map Tool, controlling who can see their location. Users can disable this feature whenever they wish, and their location updates each time they open the app or return to it.

The press release from Meta stated that new features would remain off until users decide to activate them. Furthermore, it mentioned that parents supervising their child’s app usage would receive notifications if the child starts sharing their location.

“Parents can manage the location sharing settings for their teens,” the release indicated. “They receive alerts when teens start sharing their locations, allowing for discussions on safe sharing practices.” Parents can monitor who their teens share locations with.

Instagram’s head, Adam Mosseri, mentioned that the company is planning design improvements soon. However, there are reports suggesting that some users found their locations shared automatically without consent, which contradicts Meta’s claims.

The lawmakers expressed that this is particularly worrying concerning the safety of children and teens on the platform. They criticized Meta for allegedly prioritizing benefits over the protection of vulnerable users.

“While Meta claims parental controls are in place, it’s evident that these tools are insufficient for keeping children safe,” they remarked. They highlighted the dangers of children accepting follow requests from unknown individuals and the risks of sharing real-time locations.

Furthermore, Blackburn and Blumenthal have criticized Meta’s track record regarding children’s safety online. They pointed out a continuing trend of failure to protect minors, urging for legislative measures to ensure better safeguards.

In previous efforts, they sponsored the Online Safety Act for Children, which passed the Senate but not the House. This legislation was reintroduced in May. The senators also previously expressed concerns about the inability of Meta to protect minors from exposure to inappropriate content via AI chatbots.

In their recent communication, they urged Meta to reconsider the map feature and instead focus on implementing effective protections for children online.