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Lawmakers want Mark Zuckerburg to end an Instagram feature that allows people to see users’ locations in real time – arguing it exposes children to “pedophiles and traffickers,” among other dangers.
US Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote the billionaire Facebook founder a strongly worded letter with the request to “immediately abandon” the feature Friday, accusing Meta of having an “abysmal” track record of protecting its youngest users.
“This addition is a cause of particular concern for us when it comes to children and teens that are active on Instagram,” the senators wrote. “Meta’s platforms have been consciously designed to prioritize profit over the protection of its most vulnerable users: our children.”
Meta rolled out the new Instagram feature last week, with users now having an option for their live locations to be posted on a map for the public to see.
The feature is not supposed to be active unless users opt-in, but some have reported finding their locations posted on maps without having enabled the option.
And while parents with supervision controls over their kids’ accounts are supposed to be notified if their children begin using the feature, Blumenthal and Blackburn argued the platform’s parental controls are deliberately confusing.
“While Meta has argued that parents with supervision settings on their children’s accounts have control over their location settings, it is clear that existing parental controls are not sufficient,” the letter read. “Meta has made it difficult for parents to fully understand or utilize parental controls, leading to abuse, exploitation, and victimization of these precious children.”
The senators also accused Meta of “repeatedly” failing to take steps to protect young users until compelled to do so by Congress.
“As you know, children often accept follow requests from individuals they do not know personally,” they wrote.
“Allowing children to share their real-time location and more readily displaying where they take pictures to strangers — many of whom may be pedophiles and traffickers — will only increase the dangers children face online due to your inaction.”
A Meta spokesperson didn’t address the complaints about data being shared but told The Post the feature was strictly by choice.
“Instagram Map is off by default, and your live location is never shared unless you choose to turn it on,” the spokesperson said. “If you do, only people you follow back — or a private, custom list you select — can see your location.”
Blumenthal and Blackburn have previously targeted Meta with the 2024 Kids Online Safety Act, which seeks to formalize protections for children within social media apps.
That bill passed theSenate but failed to pass the House, and was reintroduced in 2025.
They also wrote Meta in April, accusing the company of “failing to protect underage users from sexually explicit discussions with a new class of AI-powered digital chatbots.”