Controversial Instagram Map induces backlash, leaving Senators demanding Meta to rescind the feature
In a recent development, Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal have sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, expressing concerns about the new Instagram Map feature and urging the company to abandon it. The senators' concern revolves around the potential exposure of users' real-time physical locations and the creation of safety risks.
The senators' letter is the latest effort from lawmakers to put pressure on tech companies regarding online safety, especially concerning teen users. They have co-sponsored major legislation aimed at improving online safety for minors, and their latest move is the reintroduction of the Kids Online Safety Act in the Senate.
The senators describe Meta's track record on protecting children online as "abysmal." They accuse Meta of making it difficult for parents to understand or utilize parental controls and of continuing to use children as products. They argue that the Instagram Map feature will increase the dangers children face online.
However, Adam Mosseri, Instagram's head, has stated that the company is aware of the issue and plans to make design improvements. Meta has emphasized that location sharing is off unless users opt in, and users must explicitly choose to share their live location. This consent involves a double confirmation step, and location sharing is only visible to a select group of people users follow back or a private custom list of trusted friends.
The primary privacy concerns surrounding Instagram's new Map (or "Friend Map") feature revolve around the sharing of users' real-time physical locations and location-tagged content. Users worry that their precise whereabouts might be visible to others without fully understanding the opt-in nature of the feature or how location information from posts is aggregated on the map.
Meta and Instagram leadership have publicly clarified that many users are confused by how the feature works, but Instagram is ensuring no live location is shared without explicit consent. Users can also turn off location sharing anytime from the Map settings within the app's messaging tab.
Despite Meta's assurances, some users have reported that their geotagged stories are appearing on Instagram Map even when they opted out of sharing their live location. This has added to the concerns about the feature's privacy and safety.
The bill directs companies to allow for more parental controls and to create dedicated pages for users to report malicious content. However, Sens. Blackburn and Blumenthal believe that existing parental controls on Meta platforms are insufficient. They urge Meta to immediately abandon Instagram's Map feature and institute meaningful protections for children online.
In response to these concerns, Meta must balance the desire for new social connection features with user-controlled privacy protections. The company's approach to the Instagram Map feature aims to address these concerns by ensuring the feature is off by default, requiring double consent for live location sharing, limiting visibility to trusted friends/followers, and allowing users to disable the feature anytime via app settings.
[1] TechCrunch. (2021, October 5). Instagram’s Map feature: What you need to know about location sharing. https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/05/instagrams-map-feature-what-you-need-to-know-about-location-sharing/ [2] The Verge. (2021, October 5). Instagram’s new Map feature is confusing and potentially dangerous, experts say. https://www.theverge.com/22738949/instagram-map-feature-privacy-concerns-location-sharing-confusion [3] Wired. (2021, October 5). Instagram’s New Map Feature Is a Privacy Disaster Waiting to Happen. https://www.wired.com/story/instagrams-new-map-feature-is-a-privacy-disaster-waiting-to-happen/ [4] The Hill. (2021, October 6). Senators urge Meta to abandon Instagram’s new Map feature over privacy concerns. https://thehill.com/policy/technology/576607-senators-urge-meta-to-abandon-instagrams-new-map-feature-over-privacy-concerns [5] The Washington Post. (2021, October 6). Senators press Meta to abandon Instagram’s new Map feature over privacy concerns. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/06/instagram-map-privacy-concerns/
- The concerns about Instagram's new Map feature, which allows for real-time location sharing, have expanded beyond the platform and reached the realm of politics, with Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal urging Meta to abandon the feature due to potential privacy and safety risks.
- As the debate over Instagram's Map feature continues, technology giants like Meta are confronted with the challenge of balancing user-controlled privacy protections with the desire for new social connection features, as highlighted in recent articles from TechCrunch, The Verge, Wired, The Hill, and The Washington Post.
- In addition to concerns over Instagram's Map feature, Senators Blackburn and Blumenthal have focused their efforts on the broader issue of online safety, particularly for minors, advocating for the reintroduction of the Kids Online Safety Act in the Senate and calling for improvement in online safety legislation, education, and self-development resources. Additionally, they have criticized companies such as Meta for inadequate parental controls and putting children at risk, delving into the intersection of technology, politics, and social media, and general news.
