Instagram is experiencing a technical glitch affecting search results for “Democrats,” displaying a “results hidden” message, while searches for “Republicans” yield significantly more results. This has led to accusations of political bias, although a social media expert suggests it’s likely a technical issue. Meta acknowledges the problem, affecting hashtags across the political spectrum, and states they are working to fix it promptly. The error, however, risks fueling conspiracy theories and harming Meta’s reputation.
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MEPs and several EU governments criticize the European Commission’s slow enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA), citing Elon Musk’s actions as a prime example. Concerns center on Musk’s apparent algorithmic manipulation to boost his own tweets, potentially violating the DSA’s transparency requirements and influencing upcoming German elections through his promotion of the AfD. The Commission’s ongoing investigation into X’s DSA compliance is deemed too slow, with calls for faster action to prevent the misuse of platforms and protect democratic processes. Failure to effectively enforce the DSA could result in significant fines for non-compliant companies or even an EU ban.
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A Queensland University of Technology study reveals that Elon Musk’s X account experienced a significant surge in engagement—a 138% increase in views and 238% in retweets—following his July endorsement of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. This boost surpassed general platform trends and coincided with similar, though smaller, increases for other conservative accounts. The researchers suggest that X’s algorithm may have been modified to prioritize these accounts. This finding supports previous claims of algorithmic manipulation to favor Musk and aligned voices on the platform.
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John Q. Hosedrinker