The EU formally asked Meta on Friday to detail the transparency measures it is taking after the Facebook and Instagram owner scrapped a widely used tool to monitor online disinformation.
Meta has been criticized on both sides of the Atlantic for the decision to shut down CrowdTangle — a feature considered vital by researchers tracking viral disinformation — in a year of big election contests in the United States and elsewhere.
Unavailable as of August 14, CrowdTangle is set to be replaced with Meta’s Content Library — a technology researchers say doesn’t offer nearly the same functionality.
The European Commission’s request to Meta was sent under the bloc’s Digital Services Act, a landmark new law that combats illegal content online.
Brussels launched a formal investigation into Meta’s Facebook and Instagram in late April, five weeks before elections across the bloc in June, over concerns that the platforms were unable to tackle disinformation.
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He sounded the alarm especially about CrowdTangle’s plans to break up without a sufficient alternative.
In its latest request, the committee asked Meta to provide details by September 6 on how it plans to give researchers access to publicly accessible data on its platforms and how it plans to update its election monitoring functions.
“Specifically, the Commission requests information regarding the Meta Content Library and Application Programming Interface (API), including eligibility criteria, the application process, and the data that can be accessed and features,” the Commission said in a statement .
CrowdTangle has been relied on for years by researchers and journalists seeking to track in real time the spread of conspiracies and hate speech on Meta-owned platforms.
Organizations that debunk disinformation as part of Meta’s third-party fact-checking program, including AFP, will have access to the Content Library — but the new tool won’t be accessible to for-profit media.
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Killing off CrowdTangle is seen as a major blow in a year when dozens of countries are heading to the polls.
In an open letter earlier this year, the global nonprofit Mozilla Foundation warned that decommissioning CrowdTangle would pose an “immediate threat” to the integrity of elections, urging Meta to maintain it until at least January 2025.
Source: AFP