Meta says it is working quickly to resolve the problem, which has prompted accusations of bias on social media.

Summary

Meta’s Instagram faced criticism after searches for “Democrat” or “Democrats” displayed a “results hidden” message, while “Republican” returned 3.3 million posts.

The issue emerged after Donald Trump’s inauguration, which Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg attended.

Meta attributed the problem to a technical error affecting political hashtags and promised a quick fix.

Critics, however, flagged concerns over perceived political bias, especially as Meta has recently shifted content moderation policies and aligned closer to the Republican administration, including donations to Trump and appointing a Republican as global affairs chief.

  • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zipEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    Meanwhile in another thread, I am attempting to explain to someone who wants Signal to be able to directly interface with WhatsApp, someone who has no understanding of why metadata security is a big deal… why purely on technical, privacy / security level, that’s not workable.

    Well, here’s another arrow in my quiver if that discussion continues, jesus fucking christ.

      • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        13 hours ago

        Is Signal legally required to interface with WhatsApp by the EU?

        I… don’t think so?

        Why would it?

        Neither Signal nor WhatsApp are specifically mandated by the EU to be interoperable as far as I know.

        If you mean: Doesn’t GDPR require mobile/pc apps to not gather or store metadata?

        Then also, no, not really?

        https://www.gdpr-advisor.com/gdpr-compliance-for-mobile-apps-securing-user-data-in-the-age-of-mobile-technology/

        Mobile apps must process personal data in a lawful and transparent manner. Users should be informed clearly about how their data is collected, what it will be used for, and who it will be shared with.

        Lawfulness: Data processing must have a lawful basis, such as user consent, performance of a contract, or legitimate interest.

        Did you accept the WhatsApp Terms of Service?

        Congrats, Meta(Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp) will argue you consented to having your metadata harvested.

        Do you see the cheekiness of why Facebook renamed itself to Meta?

        Their core business model is trafficking, hoarding and selling ‘meta’ data, its right in the name.

        • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
          1·
          13 hours ago

          Yes, the EU required apps to be interoperable. It was after GDPR. It became law in April 2024 iirc

          • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zipEnglish
            0·
            12 hours ago

            Could you link me this law? Or do you know its name?

            EDIT: Also, like … what are the boundaries of this law?

            Does Steam Messaging now have to integrate directly with WhatsApp?

            Does Instagram have to be able to send messages directly to Tiktok?

              • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zipEnglish
                2·
                5 hours ago

                Doesn’t apply to Signal.

                It applies to apps with large marketshare, maintained by for profit entities over 7.5 billion euro revenue in the EEA for 3 years or over 75 billion euro marketcap , and ironically it seems like the only apps actually currently doing anything to meaningfully comply with it are tiny, non profit maintained apps.

                • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
                  1·
                  3 hours ago

                  Yeah. So WhatsApp and, umm, Facebook chat. What other apps do people use from huge for profit companies? Maybe Google Meet?

              • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zipEnglish
                0·
                11 hours ago

                All this says is that WhatsApp is required to be interoperable with Signal’s EE2E protocol.

                It does not say that Signal has to has to be interoperable with WhatsApp, that Signal is required to make any changes to comply with the DMA.

                The entire problem here is that Signal, in addition to using its own EE2E standard, also uses its own additional method called Sealed Sender to also encrypt and obfuscate the metadata of a message, which WhatsApp does not do and is not required to do.

                Further, WhatsApp stores and logs metadata, Signal does not.

                Were a Signal user to send a message to WhatsApp, well Signal would have to disable its Sealed Sender features to do this, and then WhatsApp would have the Signal user’s metadata, which they would then sell to databrokers and provide to governments upon subpoena.

                If your metadata is not secure, you are not secure.

                • tired_n_bored@lemmy.world
                  11·
                  9 hours ago

                  Yeah I meant WhatsApp, being a monopoly, has to integrate with other services, but it has nothing to do with Signal. Specifically WA is working with an integration with Matrix tho

                  • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zipEnglish
                    1·
                    8 hours ago

                    Ok, so there is no law that mandates that WhatsApp and Signal must be mutually interoperable.

                    jagged_circle claimed there was a law that said ‘all apps must be interoperable’, i asked for a source, you, said ‘here it is!’, and then provided… not that.

                    Thanks for wasting my time and being wrong!