CHARLESTON W.Va. (WVDN) – Attorney General JB McCuskey joined a bipartisan coalition of 37 attorneys general urging Instagram to make immediate changes to its newly implemented location-sharing feature.
In a letter to Instagram Head Adam Mosseri, the attorneys general outlined serious public safety and data privacy concerns about the change, which allows users’ precise locations to be displayed on a map.
The coalition emphasized the heightened dangers for vulnerable users, including children and survivors of domestic violence, noting that such tools can be exploited by predators, stalkers, and other malicious actors.
“As attorneys general, we recognize the potential danger caused by the new location-sharing feature on Instagram, that is why we are asking Instagram to take action. In the meantime, I urge people who are on Instagram, especially parents who have children with accounts, to investigate the location-sharing feature and proactively protect yourself and your kids,” Attorney General McCuskey said.
Unrestricted location-sharing features pose a particular risk for minors as they can be readily used by sexual predators to identify and geographically target children in the real world. We know that dangerous individuals are already present on Instagram, and we have serious concerns that this feature will increase the likelihood of hands-on abuse and exploitation. These concerns underscore the urgent need for action.
The letter calls on Instagram to:
1. Ensure that minors cannot enable location-sharing features.
2. Send a clear alert to all adult users explaining the feature, outlining its risks, and providing full disclosure of how Instagram will use users’ location data.
3. For adults who choose to opt in, provide a simple, easy-to-access control to disable location sharing at any time.
The attorneys general stressed that Meta and Instagram must prioritize user safety over product novelty, and that implementing these measures will protect user privacy while allowing informed adults to choose whether to share their location.
The full letter is available here.
