Attorneys General Urge Instagram to Protect User Privacy

AG: New Mexico Press Releases

Filed August 13th, 2025

Detected March 21st, 2026

Summary

Attorneys General from New Mexico, Georgia, and 35 other states have sent a letter to Instagram urging the platform to protect user privacy regarding its new location-sharing feature. The letter expresses concerns about potential risks to children and survivors of domestic violence, requesting specific safeguards.

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What changed

Attorneys General from 37 states, led by New Mexico and Georgia, have issued a letter to Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, expressing serious concerns about the platform's new location-sharing feature. The feature allows users' precise real-time locations to be displayed on a map, which the AGs argue poses significant privacy and safety risks, particularly for children and domestic violence survivors. The letter highlights the potential for stalking, harassment, and exploitation, and calls on Instagram to prohibit minors from using the feature, provide clear alerts to adult users about risks and data usage, and allow easy disabling of the feature.

Regulated entities, particularly social media platforms, should note the strong stance taken by state Attorneys General regarding user privacy and safety, especially concerning minors. While this is a non-binding letter, it signals potential future enforcement actions or legislative efforts. Companies should review their data-sharing features, particularly those involving location data, and ensure robust privacy protections are in place, with clear opt-in/opt-out mechanisms and age-appropriate restrictions. The New Mexico AG's office is also engaged in ongoing litigation against Meta, underscoring the potential for legal consequences.

What to do next

Review location-sharing features for potential privacy and safety risks, especially for minors.
Ensure clear user alerts regarding data usage and risks associated with location sharing.
Implement easy-to-use opt-out mechanisms for location-sharing features.

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Attorneys General of New Mexico and Georgia Lead 37-State Effort Urging Instagram to Protect User Privacy After Location-Sharing Feature Launch

August 13, 2025

Albuquerque, NM — New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, joined by 35 other states, today sent a letter to Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, expressing serious concerns about the platform’s new location-sharing feature. This feature, which allows users’ precise real-time locations to be displayed on a map, poses significant privacy and safety risks—especially for vulnerable groups, including children and survivors of domestic violence.

“Instagram is once again prioritizing engagement over safety and has enabled a potentially dangerous feature without first ensuring the safety of their users, especially kids,” said New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez. “It is absolutely stunning that the company would allow children on the platform to enable a feature which would provide predators with even more information to target and abuse them. We are calling on Instagram to limit this feature to adult users only and to provide them with a clear explanation of how the data will be used and by whom, and an easy way to disable the feature should they choose to do so in the future.”

“In Georgia, we have taken action to protect our children from predators and human traffickers,” said Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr. “Now, we’re asking the tech industry to work with us by imposing commonsense measures that will empower parents and keep kids safe online.“

The coalition’s letter highlights that unrestricted location-sharing can facilitate stalking, harassment, and exploitation. Minors are particularly at risk, as predators could use the feature to identify and geographically target children.

The Attorneys General are urging Instagram to take immediate steps to safeguard users, including:

Prohibiting minors from enabling location-sharing.
Providing clear alerts to adult users about the feature, its risks, and how their location data will be used.
Allowing adult users who opt in to easily disable the feature at any time. The letter underscores the responsibility of social media companies to protect their users, particularly those most vulnerable to exploitation. The Attorneys General expect a prompt response and action to prevent practices that could endanger Instagram users.

The New Mexico Department of Justice is engaged in ongoing litigation against Meta for its failure to protect young users and its false representations about the safety of Meta’s platforms.

Attorneys General joining New Mexico and Georgia are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming

Protect Instagram User Privacy Multistate AG Letter