The European Union has asked Meta Platforms Inc. for information about the way it shares data from its social media platforms with researchers. 

The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, disclosed the request today. The move relates to a probe that officials launched earlier this year into Meta’s compliance with the EU’s Digital Services Act regulation. The DSA includes, among other things, transparency rules that require social media companies to make data about their platforms easily accessible to researchers.

A core component of Meta’s efforts to meet that requirement is a tool called the Content Library. It’s a web portal that allows researchers to access certain information about user posts on Facebook and Instagram. Meta also makes that data available through an application programming interface.

Through its new request for information, the EU is seeking more details about the Content Library. Officials have asked Meta to explain the eligibility criteria for using the tool and the application process that researchers must complete before receiving access. The EU is likewise seeking clarification about the Content Library’s feature set, including its API, and the data that the service providers.

The other major focus of the request for information is Meta’s recently discontinued CrowdTangle tool. It had a similar purpose as the Content Library: providing third parties such as researchers with information about user activity on Facebook and Instagram. Meta discontinued CrowdTangle this past Wednesday. 

Ahead of the 2024 European Parliament elections, Meta upgraded CrowdTangle to comply with the DSA’s transparency requirements. The company added 27 dashboards, one for each EU member state, to facilitate civic discourse and election monitoring. Researchers could use them to access real-time information about user-generated content on Meta’s platforms. 

When the company discontinued CrowdTangle on Wednesday, researchers lost access to the dashboards. In the wake of the tool’s shutdown, the EU is seeking information about the company’s “plans to update its election and civic discourse monitoring functionalities.”

Meta has until Sept. 6 to provide the information. If it fails to do so, the European Commission may issue a fine or repeat its inquiry in the form of a so-called formal request by decision. Noncompliance with the latter request can carry financial penalties as well.

The development comes as Meta faces a second DSA probe over its practices in the social media market. As part of that investigation, EU officials are evaluating whether the interface designs of Facebook and Instagram may breach the DSA’s child safety rules. Earlier, the European Commission found that Meta’s ad-free subscription plan has breached the DMA, another piece of EU legislation focused on regulating the tech sector. 

Photo: Wikimedia Commons