Sometimes you see a train wreck coming from miles away, and all you can do is watch it unfold. That’s exactly how I felt when news broke about Meta’s AI app exposing users’ private chats in their Discover feed. The collective response from the privacy community was essentially one big “told you so” moment.

The whole situation perfectly encapsulates everything that’s wrong with how tech giants approach user privacy. Meta rolled out this AI feature without giving users any meaningful control – you can’t turn off chat history, you can’t opt out of having your data used to train their models. It was, quite frankly, a disaster waiting to happen.

Looking at the latest controversy surrounding Meta’s platforms, where they’ve mysteriously “hidden” posts about abortion pill providers, I’m struck by how predictable these “accidents” have become. The timing is particularly interesting, isn’t it? Just as reproductive rights become an increasingly heated political issue.

Remember when tech platforms were supposed to democratize information and give everyone a voice? Those idealistic days feel like ancient history now. These days, it seems every week brings another convenient “bug” that just happens to align with certain political interests.