Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford has joined a bipartisan group of attorneys general urging Instagram to make changes to its new location-sharing feature, citing public safety and privacy concerns.

Ford announced that he and 36 other attorneys general sent a letter to Instagram Head Adam Mosseri outlining the risks of a feature that allows users’ precise locations to be shown on a map.

“Social media companies have a responsibility to their users to ensure they remain safe while using these platforms,” said Ford. "Tools such as this location-sharing feature have the capability to harm social media users, especially our children and other vulnerable populations. I urge Meta and Instagram to release this feature responsibly and to inform their userbase of the protections they can access.”

The coalition, led by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, wrote that the feature poses heightened risks to vulnerable users, including children and domestic violence survivors, and could be exploited by predators, stalkers, and other malicious actors.

The letter calls on Instagram to ensure minors cannot enable the feature, issue a clear alert to adult users explaining the risks and how location data will be used, and provide simple controls to disable the feature at any time. The attorneys general stressed that user safety should take priority over product novelty.

Meta responded to concerns expressed in the letter in a statement sent to 2 News Nevada on Wednesday evening.
 
“Real-time location features should of course be intentionally built and give users control, which is why Instagram Map's design already addresses the issues the attorneys general raise: it is off by default, everyone receives a notification explaining what the feature entails and can turn it off whenever they want, and with parental supervision, parents get a notification if their teen starts using it and can block their access to it at any time,” said a Meta spokesperson. 

Meanwhile, A.G. Ford has made protecting children from social media dangers a key focus.

In early 2024, his office filed civil litigation against TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger, alleging their algorithms were deliberately designed to addict young users and exploit their vulnerabilities.

In June 2025, the office filed a civil action against YouTube, along with Google LLC and Alphabet Inc., alleging that the platform’s design and practices were harmful and addictive for Nevada youth.

Attorneys general from 37 states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming, signed the letter.

A copy of the letter is attached below.

Download PDF Protect Instagram User Privacy Multistate AG Letter