The lack of comprehensive, independent access to digital platform data leaves the public in the dark about social media platform impacts, both positive and negative. Barriers to data access also hinder efforts to identify and assess effective policy responses, everything from efforts to strengthen kids’ online safety to the prevention of cyber crime.
The European Commission is taking important steps to tackle data access problems – but there is more the Commission can do to unlock the data needed to understand and respond to social media dynamics.
Independent data access for platform research is, unfortunately, increasingly difficult. Over just the last year, Meta shut down access to the vital public insights tool CrowdTangle. Twitter/X moved to restrict API access for researchers by introducing new and significant costs. Reddit updated access to its Data API in ways that researchers say will limit effectiveness of research.
Amidst these barriers, the European Commission is working to expand independent researcher access to platform data through the Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA enables ‘vetted researchers’ to conduct research focused on internal platform dynamics (in Article 40.4) and for journalists, academics, and civil society groups to analyze data that is publicly accessible in platform’s online interfaces (in Article 40.12).
The DSA’s requirement to enable research with publicly accessible data under Article 40.12 is essential for an effective DSA supervision regime. Regrettably, a number of platforms have failed to adequately respond to this requirement to open up access to publicly accessible data. The Commission has opened formal proceedings against multiple platforms for alleged shortcomings in enabling researcher access to publicly available data, including X/Twitter, TikTok, AliExpress, and Facebook/Instagram.
It is critical for researchers to be able to access publicly accessible data as envisioned in Article 40.12. Without this ability to analyze publicly available data, it will be nearly impossible for journalists, researchers and the public to understand what is happening on social media–an important source of news, conversation and connection.
We at the Knight-Georgetown Institute (KGI) are working to articulate standards for broad and consistent access to publicly available platform data, in ways that guarantee user privacy and platform integrity. Article 40 of the DSA is critical for achieving these goals, and we are eager to support its effective implementation.
The European Commission recently released a draft Delegated Act for enabling research with another vital source of digital platform data: vetted researcher access to internal platform data. This draft Act provides standards and guidance for vetted researcher access that can be transformative. KGI has responded to a request for comments from the Commission, focusing on ways to strengthen the Delegated Act. You can read our full comments to the Commission here.
While outside the scope of the vetted researcher access consultation, publicly accessible data access is interrelated. Indeed there are risks that vetted researcher access review mechanisms will be overloaded with requests for publicly available data that should be open for broader analysis.
KGI’s comments to the Commission offer recommendations for specific additional categories of data and research that could be enabled under the Act, including more granular understanding of recommender systems and independent access to platform experiments. In addition, data access should support holistic research related to systemic risks that may extend across physical borders and platforms. Analysis of systemic risks – including the dissemination of illegal content, impacts on fundamental rights, or negative effects on civic discourse or a person’s physical and mental well-being – necessitates an understanding of how these risks manifest across both platforms and borders.
The Commission expects to finalize the Delegated Act for vetted researcher access in 2025, with the first researcher requests for data potentially coming before the end of the year. This vetted researcher access – alongside critical steps to enable meaningful access to publicly accessible platform data – offers important new avenues to deepen our understanding of effective digital platform policies.
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