The Mozilla Foundation and numerous research and advocacy groups are expressing their concerns about Meta’s decision to close down its research tool, CrowdTangle, later this year. They are urging Meta to keep CrowdTangle online until after the 2024 elections to ensure the ability to monitor election misinformation during a pivotal year.
This request is outlined in an open letter signed by 90 groups, including the former CEO of CrowdTangle. The letter comes after Meta confirmed the tool’s shutdown in August 2024. The signatories argue that Meta’s decision will hinder external efforts to detect and combat political disinformation, incitements to violence, and online harassment. They emphasize the importance of maintaining election integrity and ask Meta to postpone CrowdTangle’s closure until January 2025.
CrowdTangle has been a valuable resource for researchers, journalists, and others to track content distribution on Facebook and Instagram. However, Meta has faced challenges with the tool, often used in critical reports about the platforms. Despite Meta promoting its new program, the Meta Content Library, as a more powerful alternative, there are concerns about its limitations. Former CrowdTangle CEO Brandon Silverman pointed out that the Meta Content Library lacks certain features necessary for academic and civil society research.
In response, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone stated that academic and nonprofit institutions can apply for access to the Meta Content Library. He emphasized that the library offers more comprehensive data than CrowdTangle. However, there are still uncertainties regarding access for journalists from for-profit newsrooms and the tool’s overall adequacy as a replacement for CrowdTangle.
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