How social media has leaned into harmful practices

Lately, Meta and TikTok have been doubling down on invasive privacy policies. Some users are even describing those policies as a shift to surveillance tactics. 

Why are harmful policy updates like these popping up so often? As it increasingly becomes “the norm” for billionaires to control how we exist online, big tech is taking the opportunity to push the limits of how it makes bank with your data.

Problematic social media policies ramped up in 2025

With inauguration day on the horizon, Meta kicked off a whole slew of changes in early 2025, when they rolled back their "hateful conduct policy".

That policy outlined what is and isn’t acceptable behavior on their platforms, and the policy update was purportedly made in the name of "free speech." The reality, however, is that it has actually made it more difficult for users from strategically undervalued populations to report problems, connect to resources, and share important information on Meta platforms.

Then, last summer, Instagram rolled out its Maps feature, which allows any of your Instagram followers to see your current location, so long as you’ve opened the app recently.

Instead of telling users this new feature was being deployed, and giving them the choice to turn the feature on, Meta auto-enabled the location tracking feature for all Instagram users. So, if someone unsafe was trying to find you – like, say, an ICE agent – it became a whole lot easier for them to locate you.

Speaking of which, if this is the first you're hearing of this Maps feature, here's how to turn it off.

Using your content to train AI without your knowledge

In 2026, Meta has also made it all-too-easy for businesses to miss the option to "opt out" of their AI-generated ads when advertising on the platform. The opt-out button is embedded subtly in the ad creation workflow, and doesn't clearly explain what feature is being turned off. We’ve even managed client ads where the opt-out button doesn’t appear at all!

As a result, some small businesses have unintentionally allowed Meta to make AI-generated ads on behalf of their business. It's bad enough that this can confuse a loyal client base that expects your content to look and sound a certain way. The fact that they’ve buried this opt-in such that you could technically, but unknowingly, give your consent is particularly insidious.

TikTok joined Meta in threats to privacy

Meanwhile, TikTok's new terms of service policy, updated earlier this year, had some alarming inclusions. The platform explicitly states in its updated terms of service that it plans to use whatever information it can find in your messages and profile to send targeted ads your way. 

TikTok now considers and shares any information you share about everything from your racial or ethnic origin, to mental or physical health, to sexual orientation or gender status. The platform even considers citizenship and immigration status to be fair game–something particularly salient given the state of the U.S. and the activities of ICE agents within our borders.

Also, similar to Instagram, TikTok tracks your location, but it instead uses your SIM card or IP address to determine your location. 

Now, it’s been announced that, in May of 2026, Instagram will no longer encrypt your direct messages (DMs). That private conversation you had with your friend Emily about your sick cat? It's about to be a whole lot easier for hackers and bots to access, and use to send you related targeted ads, scams, or worse. 

The end of message encryption on Instagram is not only a privacy violation, but a safety concern. Experts in the space are also sounding the metaphorical alarm bell that this move may lead to the slow death of data encryption all together. If you’ve shared any legal or other sensitive information in your Instagram DMs, I highly recommend you delete those messages before May 1st. 

All in all, the rise of harmful policies like those above are an unsettling reminder that how you exist online is becoming more complicated, and that it’s important to stay informed on how companies use your data.

In the early days of the Internet, my rule of thumb was: if you don’t want others to know about something, don’t post it online. With the way these policies are trending, it might not be a bad time to return to that approach.