Instagram Falsely Accused of Violating User Privacy with New Map Feature
What happened: Social media users are falsely claiming that a new map feature on Instagram automatically shares a user’s precise location unless they turn it off, thus violating users’ privacy.
Context: On Aug. 6, Instagram introduced a series of new features, including an “Instagram Map” that allows users to “responsibly share” locations with friends, according to an August 2025 press release from Instagram owner Meta.
A closer look: Social media users soon began claiming that Instagram was automatically sharing their locations without their opt-in — which many users said they viewed as a violation of their privacy.
Threads user @steph.a.force posted, “Y’all this is serious… Instagram has just launched a Map (similar to Snapchat’s) and they’re showing your location to everyone.” The post garnered 49,000 views and 510 shares in one day.
X account @Taiga_Chama said in a post, “This s– can seriously dox you make sure to check your settings and turn that s– off or don’t give the app location permissions.” The post received 23,000 views and 180 reposts in one day.
Actually: Instagram’s new map feature does not automatically share users’ locations.
The August 2025 Meta press release stated, “You can opt in to sharing your last active location with friends you choose, and you can turn it off anytime.”
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri, responding to multiple users’ posts on Threads, said that the feature will not share users’ locations unless they choose to do so. Moreover, Mosseri said that the feature required “double consent” to be activated, meaning that users must reaffirm that they want to share their location after first turning the feature on.
A NewsGuard review of the feature on five accounts found that location sharing was, in fact, automatically disabled.
Users who opt into the feature see the message: “If you share, your precise location updates every time you open Instagram. It disappears if you don’t open the app for 24 hours.”
Moreover, users can specify which categories of people that they want to share their location with, such as users they follow, close friends, or select contacts.
Meta did not respond to NewsGuard’s two emails requesting comment on the matter.
This article was originally published in Reality Check’s newsletter. Subscribe to receive weekly updates straight to your inbox.