Ofcom Call for Evidence: Researchers’ access to information from regulated online services

The Knight-Georgetown Institute (KGI) submitted comments to the United Kingdom regulator for communications services’ (Ofcom) call for evidence on researcher access to information from digital platforms. KGI’s comments highlight barriers to independent research and practical steps that Ofcom can take to strengthen access to data and independent research in the online information ecosystem.

The Knight-Georgetown Institute (KGI) is pleased to provide input to the United Kingdom regulator for communications services’ (Ofcom) call for evidence on researchers’ access to information from regulated online services. Ensuring that a broad range of researchers, journalists, and civil society organizations have sufficient access to digital platform data is essential for the development of effective, evidence-based digital platform policies and oversight.

Ofcom’s call for evidence comes at a critical time and Ofcom and the United Kingdom (UK) government have the opportunity to play a catalytic and essential role in expanding access to platform data. The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) created requirements for large platforms and search engines to enable researchers, journalists, and civil society to analyze publicly accessible platform data as well as private platform data, in some circumstances. However, as these requirements have emerged we have seen several platforms restrict access to data that was previously available – resulting in a net loss of data currently available to researchers.

In our response to Ofcom, we focus on constraints researchers currently face and steps regulators can take to expand independent access to data. Our comments emphasize three key points:

1. Given the importance of platform data in the information ecosystem, Ofcom and the broader UK government have an important opportunity to establish and operationalize requirements for access to platform data, inclusive of researchers, journalists, and civil society organizations.
2. When considering how to implement data access requirements, two different categories of data are relevant: (i) internal or private platform data that is made available to researchers through “vetted” researcher access, and (ii) public data that is publicly accessible on the platform, without special access.
3. In regards to publicly accessible data, KGI is working with a diverse group of experts to develop a Gold Standard for Publicly Available Platform Data. This Standard will articulate the types and formats of publicly accessible data that should be available to researchers, journalists, and civil society organizations engaging in independent research. 

Independent research is central to our collective understanding of online information ecosystems. Regulators can take practical and concrete steps to expand access to publicly accessible and private platform data for a range of researchers, journalists, and civil society organizations engaging in independent research.  To learn more, read KGI’s complete comments to Ofcom.