Lawmakers from different political parties advocate for Instagram to deactivate its latest map function, raising concerns over the safety of children.
Senators Raise Alarm Over Instagram's New Map Feature and Child Safety
Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal have expressed grave concerns about Instagram's new map feature, which allows users to share their real-time location with followers. They argue that this feature could potentially expose minors to dangerous individuals, including pedophiles and traffickers.
The senators have criticized Meta, the parent company of Instagram, for prioritizing profit over child protection. They point to Meta's inadequate and difficult-to-manage parental controls as evidence of this prioritization. The senators also refer to Meta's past issues, such as AI chatbots engaging in sexually inappropriate behaviour with minors and Instagram's algorithm allegedly promoting underage-sex content.
Meta, in response, asserts that the location-sharing feature is opt-in, meaning users must actively choose to share their location. Users can specify exactly who can see it, whether it's "Friends," "Close Friends," or "Only selected friends." Instagram head Adam Mosseri has stated that he uses the map feature only to share his location with a small, curated group of close friends. Meta also notes that parents with supervision settings on their child's account will receive notifications if their child starts sharing their location.
However, some users have reported that their location was shared without their consent, despite Meta's assertions. This raises further concerns about the safety of children and teens on Instagram. The senators, therefore, are urging Meta to shut down the feature entirely to prioritize child safety.
This is not the first time the senators have raised concerns about child safety on Meta's social media platforms, which include Instagram and Facebook. In April, they wrote a letter to Meta, calling for accountability over allegations that the company is failing to protect underage users from sexually explicit discussions with AI-powered digital chatbots.
Instagram Global Director of Public Policy Tara Hopkins recently spoke with Fox Business about new built-in protections. Parents can decide whether their teen has access to location sharing on the map and can see who their teen is sharing their location with. Parents with supervision set up for their child's app will receive a notification if their child starts sharing their location.
Despite these efforts, the senators remain unconvinced, accusing Meta of having an "abysmal" track record when it comes to protecting children online. They continue to push for Instagram's new map feature to be abandoned to ensure the safety of children on the platform.
[1] https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/instagram-is-rolling-out-a-new-map-feature-and-senators-are-alarmed-about-its-impact-on-child-safety/ [2] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/28/technology/instagram-map-location-sharing.html [3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/28/instagram-location-sharing-senators/ [4] https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2022/04/28/instagram-map-location-sharing-senators-express-concern-child-safety/7416256001/ [5] https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/28/23054083/instagram-map-location-sharing-child-safety-concerns-senators-letter-to-meta
- Despite Meta's claims that the Instagram map feature's location-sharing is opt-in, some users have reported that their location was shared without their consent, causing increased concerns about the protection of children and teens on the platform.
- The senators, who have previously raised concerns over child safety on Meta's social media platforms, continue to urge Meta to shut down the new map feature, arguing that the company's inadequate parental controls and past issues with AI chatbots engaging in inappropriate behavior with minors call for stronger measures to be taken.
