The Push for Social Media Transparency: A Conversation with Brandon Silverman
In the wake of Meta’s announcement to shut down CrowdTangle, a tool that has been crucial for journalists and researchers in holding tech companies accountable for the spread of misinformation, Brandon Silverman, the tool’s cofounder and former CEO, is advocating for increased transparency from social media platforms. Silverman believes that it’s time to compel these companies to open up their data to external parties.
The Importance of CrowdTangle and the Need for Open Data
CrowdTangle, despite being owned by Meta, has played a vital role in enabling journalists and researchers to monitor and analyze the spread of mis- and disinformation on social media. Silverman acknowledges the tension between the tool’s importance and its ownership by Meta, but he sees a promising future in which more data becomes available than ever before.
The European Union’s Digital Services Act includes transparency requirements that mandate qualifying platforms to provide real-time access to public data. As a result, several platforms, such as Alibaba, TikTok, and YouTube, have quietly launched programs that allow outside researchers to access real-time public content. Silverman believes that the next step is to secure funding and support from philanthropic and civil society efforts to develop open-source tools that can utilize this data to create useful analytics for election-protection groups and fact-checkers.
Challenges in Implementing Data Access for Researchers
While the EU law mandates data access for researchers, the specifics of who qualifies as a researcher and how the data can be shared remain unclear. Silverman argues that the law grants too much power to the platforms to make these decisions and that international standards are needed to ensure consistency and effectiveness.
As these programs are implemented, Silverman believes that feedback from researchers to the European Commission will be crucial in determining what works and what doesn’t. This information can then be used to advocate for similar regulations in other countries, such as New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.
The Decline in Transparency from Tech Companies
In recent years, there has been a noticeable decrease in transparency from tech companies, with Twitter essentially shutting down data access to academics and Meta turning off most of their data-sharing initiatives. Voluntary efforts that once existed have largely been discontinued, making it a challenging time for researchers who rely on data access from these platforms.
However, Silverman sees a glimmer of hope as companies begin to comply with new laws coming online. He acknowledges the potential risks associated with making data available, such as politicization, misunderstanding, and misuse, but believes that the benefits of transparency outweigh these concerns.
Sunlight was always the best disinfectant.
Silverman emphasizes the importance of engaging in public debate and responding to bad arguments rather than defensively limiting access to data. As more organizations join the call for Meta to keep CrowdTangle operating, the push for social media transparency continues to gain momentum.
5 Comments
Guess transparency wasn’t as clear-cut for Meta, huh
Meta’s idea of transparency seems more like a magic trick these days – now you see it, now you don’t!
So much for “transparency,” Meta, hiding much
Meta’s making “transparency” rather opaque, eh
What happened to sticking to principles, Meta? Or is controversy too much transparency for you