6mo ago

Instagram hides search results for 'Democrats'

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.

United States | News & Politics @lemmy.ml

☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆ @lemmy.ml

6mo ago

Instagram hides search results for 'Democrats'

www.bbc.com /news/articles/c4g32yxpdz0o

65 comments

Ditch all meta ‘products’
- Just travelled through Chile. All bus schedules in the south are exclusively on Facebook and Instagram, and literally the only way to book a ticket is Whatsapp.
  I wish I was exaggerating.
  
  What! Bus schedules on Facebook exclusively? Facebook does not scream "repository of information", that's never, ever, been the purpose of the site.
  That sounds awful
- Just need the rest of the world to ditch WhatsApp and that will be the last meta app that I use
- Any tips on how to do this?
- I currently work for a company that does contractual support for some meta products. I'll be doing my part to slow work there until I move
- Haven't logged into my facebook since covid. Don't have Instagram, WhatsApp or other social media crap. Lemmy (sometimes reddit, I have to admit) and Discord are the only "social networks" (I hate this term, it should be para-social network) I use.
Tip of the iceberg. Even if this was a mistake, we don't know what any engines are hiding if they don't display results.
- The mistake was that they got caught. Going forward they will be sure to shadow ban any content the orange turd doesn't want.
“Back to our roots around free expression”
Ah yes, the censoring.
- We're burning books here, folks!
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.
- Isn't that legally required in the EU?
  
  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.
Remember when the Facebook Graph API first launched and people used it to find all the gay people in their city?
This is why privacy matters.
I just got rid of Instagram fuck you Zuckerberg
So glad that free speech has been restored.
Threatening billionaires with jail apparently works. I wonder if it could be used to make them pay taxes.
- The current administration:
- Didn't work with trump
  
  Let's be real, he was never really threatened with jail time.
Wouldn’t it be funny if a country inserted its agents into the US tech job market to gain access to code in order to manipulate the public with little tweaks to algorithms?
I read this as "fascists are querying Instagram to build a list of people to attack, so Meta is defending these people by blocking such queries"
- I don't read it like that
- Why?
Oh God, have we come full circle? 8 years ago this would be the same article but about how meta was blocking conservatives...
- Can't say the n word?!?? Republican viewpoints are being SiLeNcEd!!!
  🙄
- You mean the company that hired Cambridge Analytics to help Trump win the first time was censoring conservative sources? I don't think so.
  
  Why do people seem to think I'm saying that Meta was blocking conservatives? Are Lemmykins that bad at comprehension or are they too just egged along by the rage machine to the point where they can't think clearly?

65 comments