I think "back door and they read every message covertly" that the parent post was referring to SMS messages only. In that respect I think he's correct. I do agree that the wording is a bit strange/misleading, because it kind of suggests that your Signal messages could be read as well.
> In late 2001, the NSA was authorized to monitor, without obtaining a FISA warrant, the phone calls, Internet activity, text messages and other communication involving any party believed by the NSA to be outside the U.S., even if the other end of the communication lay within the U.S.
The NSA program in question was terminated in 2007, when that part of the PATRIOT Act expired and wasn’t reapproved.
To be clear: law or not, the NSA’s program was an unacceptable breach of civil liberties. But it is not comparable in domain or in historical context to Russia’s domestic surveillance.
> In late 2001, the NSA was authorized to monitor, without obtaining a FISA warrant, the phone calls, Internet activity, text messages and other communication involving any party believed by the NSA to be outside the U.S., even if the other end of the communication lay within the U.S.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_(...