On Wednesday, Meta closed CrowdTangle, which measured the likes, comments, shares and reactions made to social media posts, in order to move to a new system.
The new tool, Meta Content Library, offers data about Facebook pages, groups and events, as well as publicly accessible profiles that are verified or that have 25,000 or more followers.
For Instagram, the tool offers data on posts shared by or information on business and content creator accounts.
Meta said getting access to MCL requires “affiliation with an academic institution or other nonuniversity organization, institute or society which operates as a not-for-profit entity and holds scientific or public interest research as a primary purpose or core activity.”
Detractors of the move include groups that contend CrowdTangle was essential in tracking the spread of what they call disinformation and hate speech.
“CrowdTangle has long stood as a paragon of transparency in digital platform operations. … Its imminent closure … undermines the spirit of transparency and the broader needs of election monitoring,” groups including the Center for American Progress and Human Rights Watch wrote in a letter to Meta in May.
Instead, the groups argued, “access to these tools during election periods should be expanded rather than deprecated, due to the risk of damage to civic discourse and electoral processes.”
The Facebook parent on Wednesday said MCL is more comprehensive and offers a fuller picture of Meta platforms versus CrowdTangle, reported to The Associated Press.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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