Instagram’s latest feature—a map that lets users share their locations in real time—has set off a storm of privacy concerns, confusion, and political scrutiny just days after its rollout in the United States. While Meta, Instagram’s parent company, touts the tool as a way to help friends connect and discover “cool spots,” many users and lawmakers are questioning whether the benefits outweigh the risks, especially for children and teens.
The new map, which appeared on the app on August 6, 2025, sits atop Instagram’s message inbox and allows users to share their live location while using the app. According to a Meta blog post cited by AFP and The New York Times, the feature is off by default—meaning users must opt in for it to be active—and can be limited to a select group of followers or a custom list. But for all the assurances, the rollout has not been smooth.
Almost immediately, some Instagram users were shocked to find their locations visible on the map, even though they hadn’t knowingly enabled the feature. Lindsey Bell, replying to a viral warning posted by “Bachelor” reality star Kelley Flanagan on TikTok, described her experience: “Mine was turned on and my home address was showing for all of my followers to see. Turned it off immediately once I knew but had me feeling absolutely sick about it.” Flanagan herself called the feature “dangerous” and offered step-by-step instructions for disabling it in her video, which quickly gained traction among concerned users.
Much of the confusion, as Instagram head Adam Mosseri later explained, stemmed from the map’s inclusion of prior posts tagged with a location. These tags, which users had added to posts in the past, were now being collated and displayed on the new map—even if users hadn’t opted in to live location sharing. As Mosseri clarified in a post on Meta-owned Threads, “Quick Friend Map clarification, your location will only be shared if you decide to share it, and if you do, it can only be shared with a limited group of people you choose. To start, location sharing is completely off.”
Still, the damage was done for some. Allie Taylor, an educator and Instagram content creator, recounted to The New York Times how they began receiving messages from strangers after posting a video tagged with their city. The map, Taylor said, was accurate enough to reveal the street where they worked. “It was terrifying,” Taylor said. “Why was this even a feature?”
The backlash extended beyond everyday users. On August 8, 2025, Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a bipartisan letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, urging him to abandon the map feature altogether. The senators, who have a history of raising alarms about child safety on social media, warned that the tool could expose children and teens to “dangerous individuals online, including pedophiles and traffickers.” In their letter, first reported by NBC News and summarized by The Hill, they wrote, “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.”
Meta responded by emphasizing the feature’s opt-in nature and parental safeguards. According to the company’s August 6 release, users must actively choose to share their location, can select which followers see it, and can turn it off at any time. Parents supervising a child’s account can control location settings and will receive notifications if the child changes those settings. But the senators cited reports of users’ locations being shared without their consent, fueling skepticism about how foolproof the opt-in system really is.
Adam Mosseri acknowledged the confusion and promised swift changes. “We’re never going to share your location without someone actually actively asking to do so,” he posted on Friday, conceding that Instagram needed to “do a better job” of explaining what would appear on the map. He added, “We can, and will, make it easier to understand exactly what’s happening.” Meta, for its part, reiterated in a statement that “Instagram Map is off by default, and your live location is never shared unless you choose to turn it on. If you do, only people you follow back—or a private, custom list you select—can see your location.”
For users worried about their privacy, there are multiple ways to regain control. Within the Instagram app, users can go to their messages inbox, open the map, and change location sharing settings to “no one.” Alternatively, phone owners can dive into their device’s location services settings to allow or deny Instagram access altogether.
The controversy comes at a time when Meta is already under fire for its handling of sensitive user data. Just a week before the Instagram map’s debut, a federal jury in San Francisco sided with women who accused Meta of exploiting health data from the Flo app—a popular tool for tracking menstruation and fertility—to better target advertisements. The law firm Labaton Keller Sucharow, representing the plaintiffs, said evidence at trial showed Meta was aware it was receiving confidential health data and that some employees even mocked the nature of the information. “This case was about more than just data—it was about dignity, trust, and accountability,” lead attorney Carol Villegas stated in a blog post. Damages in the suit have yet to be determined.
Instagram is not the first social platform to offer a location-sharing map. Snapchat rolled out a similar feature in 2017, and Apple devices have long allowed users to share their locations with friends and family. Meta’s other platforms, like Facebook and WhatsApp, also provide live location sharing. Yet, the sheer scale and popularity of Instagram—especially among younger users—make its version uniquely fraught.
For now, Instagram insists the new map is a “lightweight way to connect with each other,” but the company faces mounting pressure to address user fears. Content creators, privacy advocates, and lawmakers are united in calling for greater transparency and stronger protections, particularly for minors. Blackburn and Blumenthal, for example, have sponsored the Kids Online Safety Act, which passed the Senate last summer but stalled in the House. In their latest letter, they urged Meta to “immediately abandon Instagram’s map feature and instead institute meaningful protections for children online—they deserve nothing less.”
As the debate rages on, one thing is clear: Instagram’s attempt to foster connection has, for many, highlighted the ever-present tension between social sharing and personal privacy. Whether the company can regain user trust—and at what cost—remains to be seen.
