{"id":22554,"date":"2024-03-25T17:33:11","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T17:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socialmedialab.ca\/web\/?p=22554"},"modified":"2024-03-26T19:51:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T19:51:38","slug":"a-first-look-at-metas-new-content-library-and-content-library-api","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/socialmedialab.ca\/web\/2024\/03\/25\/a-first-look-at-metas-new-content-library-and-content-library-api\/","title":{"rendered":"A First Look at Meta’s New Content Library and Content Library API"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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After years of speculation, Meta officially announced<\/a> it would shut down CrowdTangle<\/a>, a research and data-analysis tool widely used by researchers, journalists, and election observers to spot trends and keep misinformation<\/a> on Meta\u2019s platforms in check. According to Meta, the system will be in maintenance mode until later this summer, when it will finally be shut down permanently on August 14, 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This news did not come as a surprise to many in the research community. Rumours about CrowdTangle\u2019s shuttering have been around since 2021, when Meta abruptly disbanded the team supporting the tool and stopped onboarding new users. The tool has proven controversial within Meta and was at the center of many internal debates<\/a> over the company\u2019s responsibility to be transparent and accountable for the content featured on its platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As part of the shutdown announcement, Meta says it will replace CrowdTangle with two new tools, Meta Content Library<\/a> and Content Library API<\/a>, which, according to the company, <\/em>are designed to \u201cprovide useful, high-quality data to researchers\u201d <\/em>and help the company \u201cmeet new regulatory requirements for data-sharing and transparency while meeting Meta\u2019s rigorous privacy and security standards.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in contrast to CrowdTangle, which was made widely available to both academic researchers and journalists, the replacement tools will only be available to researchers affiliated with \u201ca qualified academic or non-profit institution\u201d and will not be made available to for-profit news organizations. Academic researchers with access to CrowdTangle will not be automatically ported over. Instead, they will have to apply anew<\/a> to access these tools through an academic consortium contracted by Meta to review and approve the applications – the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raising the Alarm<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Meta\u2019s decision to discontinue CrowdTangle was immediately criticized by many online researchers and civil society organizations concerned that this move would raise the barrier to data access, including Crowdtangle\u2019s co-founder and former CEO Brandon Silverman, who called the decision to cut off access to the system three months before a US Presidential election \u201cincredibly irresponsible<\/a>.\u201d Some of whom have endorsed an open letter to Meta<\/a> from the Mozilla Foundation calling on the company to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep CrowdTangle running until January 2025 and “rapidly onboard all current CrowdTangle organizations that are focused on election integrity to the Content Library, including civil society organizations, researchers and qualifying news outlets\u2014directly or through an accelerated application process<\/em>“<\/div>