EU regulators question Meta about the shutdown of CrowdTangle

Meta’s resolution to close down CrowdTangle, an analytics device that was an “invaluable” useful resource to the analysis group, is drawing recent scrutiny from European Union regulators. The EU Fee, which had already raised issues in regards to the social community’s plan to discontinue the device forward of worldwide elections in 2024, is now urgent Meta for extra particulars about its work with researchers.

The EU Fee beforehand cited the approaching shutdown of CrowdTangle as a part of a broader investigation into the corporate’s dealing with of disinformation campaigns and election-related insurance policies. Now, simply days after CrowdTangle was shut off regardless of pleas from researchers and civil society organizations to maintain it on-line by the tip of the yr, regulators are pointedly reminding Meta of its “obligation” beneath the Digital Companies Act (DSA) to permit outdoors researchers entry to its information.

“The Fee is requesting Meta to supply extra info on the measures it has taken to adjust to its obligations to provide researchers entry to information that’s publicly accessible on the net interface of Fb and Instagram, as required by the DSA, and on its plans to replace its election and civic discourse monitoring functionalities,” the EU Fee wrote in a press release. “Particularly, the Fee is requesting details about Meta’s content material library and software programming interface (API), together with their eligibility standards, the appliance course of, the info that may be accessed and functionalities.”

Meta has beforehand pointed to the Meta Content material Library as a substitute for CrowdTangle. However entry to the Meta Content material Library is way more tightly managed, and researchers have mentioned it doesn’t replicate all of CrowdTangle’s performance.

“We introduced earlier this yr that we might discontinue CrowdTangle as a result of it didn’t present an entire image of what’s occurring on our platforms,” a Meta spokesperson mentioned in a press release to Engadget. “We’ve constructed new, extra complete instruments for researchers, referred to as the Meta Content material Library & API, and we stay in dialogue with the European Fee on this matter.”

Replace August 16, 2024, 3:15PM ET: This story has been up to date so as to add a press release from Meta.