Meta discontinues widely used research tool and limits access for journalists

Meta will discontinue CrowdTangle, a widely used platform that allowed researchers to analyze Facebook and Instagram data, in August. The platform is being replaced by a new tool called Meta Content Library, but it may be used by fewer researchers.

CrowdTangle can no longer be used from August 14, the company writes in a FAQ. The user interface, the commonly used API and the Chrome extension will then stop working. Effective immediately, new users can no longer join the platform; CrowdTangle says it is going 'in maintenance mode'.

Meta acquired CrowdTangle in 2016. CrowdTangle is one of the most popular Meta tools for researchers and journalists studying how messages spread across platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Research institutes and editors made extensive use of this tool, for example, to map the spread of fake news or conspiracy theories. Such tools also exist from third parties, but they are often more limited in nature and their API access is regularly adjusted or limited. CrowdTangle was different because it was owned by Meta herself. This made it possible to collect a lot of data about the platforms.

Meta alternatively refers to the Meta Content Library and the associated API. However, these are available to far fewer users. Only accredited researchers affiliated with nonprofit organizations will have access to the Meta Content Library, but newsrooms or independent fact-checkers, who previously used CrowdTangle, will not. Some journalistic organizations think this will give them less insight into Facebook and Instagram. For example, CrowdTangle was one of the data sources that allowed The Wall Street Journal to map a network of child abuse on Instagram last year.