Big Tech accused of stonewalling European social media researchers
Summary
Researchers studying misinformation campaigns on social media platforms like TikTok have faced difficulties accessing data even though EU law requires platforms to share it with credible researchers. TikTok denied a research team’s request for data related to a Romanian political campaign, while later removing thousands of fake accounts linked to the same campaign.Key Facts
- TikTok content promoting Romanian politician Calin Georgescu reached 120 million views before the November 2024 election first round.
- Georgescu won the first round with 23% of the vote but was barred from running again later.
- A research team led by Adriana Iamnitchi requested TikTok’s API data under the EU Digital Services Act but was denied access.
- TikTok flagged and removed over 27,000 fake accounts linked to a campaign supporting Georgescu and his party.
- Romanian intelligence indicated Russia allegedly coordinated the online campaign boosting Georgescu.
- Social media companies have limited or paywalled API access, making research on misinformation difficult.
- The EU Digital Services Act aims to give verified researchers data access, but implementation problems remain.
- Researchers warn that without adequate API data, understanding how social media spreads misinformation is harder.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.
