Senators propose to force social media platforms to reveal internal data

A bipartisan Senate proposal introduced Thursday would require social media platforms to give researchers access to internal data with the intent of giving the public a peek behind the curtain of how prominent tech platforms do business.

The Platform Accountability and Transparency Act would create an office within the Federal Trade Commission that would have the authority to require the disclosure of certain information to researchers and the general public, according to the senators.

Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican involved in the effort, said that before Congress takes action against social media platforms, lawmakers need to see the data “to ensure that we are not legislating in the dark.”

“I have a number of concerns about Big Tech — from facilitating sex trafficking to burying content about the origins of COVID-19 — and I want to ensure that any response by Congress is effective in addressing those concerns,” he said in a statement.

Precisely what data the lawmakers want to be handed over by the tech companies is not entirely clear. The draft proposal said the National Science Foundation will play a role in picking which researchers and what information tech companies are compelled to hand over. The bill requires that the data requested must be “feasible for the platform to provide,” be proportional to the needs of qualified researchers, and not cause an “undue burden” to a given platform.

The bill’s authors said the information provided by the companies could yield such things as a comprehensive ad library with information about engagement and the people targeted by the ads.

Researchers receiving the data will be “university-affiliated” and work on a proposal that receives NSF approval. The FTC would set cybersecurity and privacy standards for the researchers to follow.

“This legislation will increase transparency, which will help us hold these companies accountable and understand what information they have on users and what they do with it,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat and one of the bill’s authors, said in a statement. “It is time for action — we cannot stand by while social media platforms continue to put profits over safety. Americans deserve to have the facts.”

The Senate has begun zeroing in on tech platforms’ algorithms — the formulas that determine what content is served to people using their products.

Ms. Klobuchar participated on Thursday in a Senate Commerce Committee panel hearing on “dangerous algorithms,” which was primarily focused on how people’s digital experiences are shaped by the companies.

“Algorithms touch every aspect of our lives and it’s not typically very pretty and what we know is that Americans are getting increasingly addicted to platforms, especially young people,” said Ms. Klobuchar. “It’s taking up significant parts of their days and part of that is because of how they are targeted.”

While the Senate fixated on the companies’ algorithms, a House panel considered a broad array of proposals including some having to do with how companies present options to users through their algorithms.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington Republican, said the committee’s focus was incomplete.

“Despite our interest in continuing our work from last Congress on a bipartisan privacy framework, we’ve yet to have a hearing let alone a markup,” said Ms. Rodgers. “And Americans are desperate for a privacy and data security bill.”  

Whether any of the competing proposals involving tech companies’ algorithms and various related disclosure requirements gain momentum in both chambers of Congress remains to be determined.