NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg urging him to shut down Instagram’s new map feature.

The feature allows individuals to share their last active location in real time with users around the world.

“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, including pedophiles and traffickers,” said Blackburn and Blumenthal in the statement.

Meta has expressed that the feature allows users to choose who to share their location with between “Friends”, “Close Friends”, “Only selected friends” or no one. However, USA Today said that some consumers have reported that their location was automatically shared without their consent.

“From deploying AI chatbots that engaged in sexually explicit conversations with minors to continuing to use kids as products, one can only assume that Instagram’s introduction of real time location sharing will be used to further addict children to social media,” said Blackburn and Blumenthal in the statement.

The Wall Street Journal found that investigations in the past revealed Instagram’s algorithms promote underage-sex content and often facilitate communication between minors and adults.

Instagram stated in their release that a parent with supervision set up for their teen can have control over their location-sharing experience.

“Meta has made it difficult for parents to fully understand or utilize parental controls, leading to abuse, exploitation, and victimization of these precious children,” said Blackburn and Blumenthal in the statement.

Blackburn and Blumenthal ended the letter urging the Meta CEO to abandon the map feature immediately.

FOX 17 News reached out to Meta for a statement on the new release and we are waiting to hear back.

Get reports like this and all the news of the day in Middle Tennessee delivered to your inbox each morning with theFOX 17 News Daily Newsletter.