by Donald Eng
NEW HAVEN, CT — Social media features such as Instagram’s new map function can put children’s safety at risk, according to U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT.
Blumenthal joined Tameika Miller, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater New Haven, as a media briefing Wednesday to draw attention to Instagram’s new feature. He and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-TN, recently wrote to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg urging him to shut down the new feature, which they said would put children’s safety at risk by allowing them to expose their location to people online.
“For years, we have sounded the alarm regarding real time location sharing on social media platforms — specifically when it comes to underage users — and we again urge you to protect children’s safety instead of potentially exposing their location to dangerous individuals online, including pedophiles and traffickers,” the two wrote.
The map feature shares a user’s last active location with other individuals using the app. Meta has said users must opt into the feature, but Blumenthal and Blackburn said they have received complaints that users’ locations were shared without their consent.
“This addition is a cause of particular concern for us when it comes to children and teens that are active on Instagram,” they wrote. “Meta’s platforms have been consciously designed to prioritize profit over the protection of its most vulnerable users: our children.”
An email requesting comment sent to Meta’s press contact had not been returned as of late Wednesday.
The senators concluded by stating that children often accept follow requests from people they don’t know, and allowing them to share their location with strangers in real time “will only increase the dangers children face online due to your inaction.”
Your company has repeatedly shown that it will always fail to protect children’s lives—unless we pass legislation like the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act. Allowing the geolocation of minors on your platform is just the latest example of this sad reality,” concluded the senators. “We urge you to immediately abandon Instagram’s map feature and instead institute meaningful protections for children online—they deserve nothing less.”