A group of bipartisan members of Congress has urged Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to postpone the planned shutdown of CrowdTangle by half a year, emphasizing the necessity for transparency ahead of the 2024 election. They highlight CrowdTangle’s role in tracking content dissemination across Meta’s platforms.
CrowdTangle’s Significance
Meta acquired CrowdTangle in 2016, turning it into an indispensable resource for researchers, journalists, and organizations to monitor trending content on Facebook and Instagram. Initially intended to aid community organizing, its usage expanded, becoming crucial for human rights groups and civic organizations in tracking political and civic content.
Meta’s announcement in March to shut down CrowdTangle by August 14 has drawn criticism from various quarters. Journalists, publishers, and civic groups express concern over losing a key tool used to gather insights on trending discussions. Meta aims to replace it with alternate research tools, though these will not be available to news publishers or commercial users.
Meta proposes replacing CrowdTangle with the Meta Content Library (MCL) and Content Library API, which aim to offer broad access to public content archives on Facebook and Instagram. However, academics have raised doubts about the efficacy of this new system. The European Commission is also probing the decision and questioning Meta’s planned CrowdTangle replacement.
Lawmakers’ Concerns
In the US, members of Congress share doubts about the new tool, Meta Content Library, pointing out its limitations and lack of transparency regarding who can access it. The letter requesting the delay was signed by Senators Chris Coons, Bill Cassidy, Amy Klobuchar, John Cornyn, Peter Welch, Richard Blumenthal, and Ed Markey, along with Representatives Lori Trahan, Neal Dunn, and Anna Eshoo.
While Meta has acknowledged receiving the lawmakers’ letter, it has not commented further. The legislators have asked Meta to address their concerns by August 12, including whether it will postpone the CrowdTangle shutdown for six months to enhance the new content library.
Election Year Concerns
The looming shutdown of CrowdTangle has raised alarms about its potential impact on monitoring misinformation in the election year. With the shutdown scheduled just three months before the election, CrowdTangle has been instrumental in tracking conspiracy theories and hate speech on Facebook and Instagram.
Brandon Silverman, former CEO of CrowdTangle, has voiced concerns about the new Meta Content Library, particularly its effectiveness in curbing false information amplified by artificial intelligence. However, organizations in Meta’s third-party fact-checking network, including AFP, will retain access to the Content Library.
Last Updated on November 7, 2024 3:30 pm CET