CrowdTangle Analysis Program - Brussels wants to switch from Meta Info to a customized analysis tool
The European Commission is demanding that Facebook and Instagram's parent company, Meta, provide more information about its decision to discontinue the analytics tool CrowdTangle. The Brussels authority has made a request for information under the Digital Services Act (DSA), as it announced. According to this, Meta should explain how researchers will be able to access data that is publicly available on the online interfaces of Facebook and Instagram in the future. Furthermore, the company should explain in what form it will update its functions for monitoring elections and civil society discourse.
Criticism of Meta's Alternatives to CrowdTangle
At the end of April, the Commission initiated a procedure against Meta, which is still ongoing. Among other things, it was criticized that there was no effective real-time tool for civil discourse and election monitoring available. According to the Brussels authority, Meta then introduced new functions in CrowdTangle - in particular, public real-time dashboards for the EU member states to enable third parties to monitor real-time discourse and elections. These functions have now been discontinued.
Meta finally shut down CrowdTangle on Wednesday. The analysis program was used, among other things, to monitor social media posts and misinformation. Other tools are supposed to replace CrowdTangle, according to Meta. Critics, however, complain that these offer less information and functions.
Possible Consequences for Meta
According to the EU Commission, Meta must provide the requested information by September 6. Based on the answers, the next steps will be determined. If the company provides false, incomplete, or misleading information or refuses to answer the questions, the authority could impose fines.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) is intended, among other things, to ensure that platforms remove illegal content from their sites more quickly than before. It will also be easier for users to report such content. In general, large services will have to follow more rules than small ones.
The European Union, through the European Commission, is keen on understanding Meta's rationale behind discontinuing CrowdTangle, as it pertains to the Digital Services Act (DSA). Following the discontinuation, critics argue that the alternatives proposed by Meta offer less information and functions compared to CrowdTangle.
