Meta urged to answer EU questions on CrowdTangle

The company’s transparency tool was taken offline and replaced by others

The European Commission is quizzing Meta under its platform rules about the discontinuation of transparency tool CrowdTangle, the EU executive announced today (16 August). 
The Commission has asked the US tech giant to provide more details on the measures it has taken to continue to comply with obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), to allow researchers access to data. It has specifically sought more information on Meta’s content library and application programming interface (API), including its eligibility criteria, the application process, the data that can be accessed, and functionalities. 
The company announced last year that it would discontinue CrowdTangle – which allows people to see what stories are spreading most quickly on the platform – on 14 August. The company said it will give researchers enough time to complete their projects and if eligible, to get up to speed with new research tools, Meta Content Library and API. 
However, this faced criticism from researchers and civil society who say it is essential for their work to measure trending topics on Facebook and Instagram, and alternatives are insufficient.
A spokesperson for Meta said: “We announced last year that we would discontinue CrowdTangle because it did not provide a complete picture of what is happening on our platforms. In its place, we have built new, more comprehensive tools for researchers, called the Meta Content Library & API, and we remain in discussion with the European Commission on this matter.”
The Commission in April already opened formal proceedings against Meta under the DSA on the non-availability of an effective third-party, real-time civic discourse and election-monitoring tool ahead of the EU elections, as well as on shortcomings around data access for researchers. This investigation is still ongoing. 
In response to the concerns around the EU elections, Meta deployed new functionalities in CrowdTangle: public real time visual dashboards, one for each Member State, to allow third party real time civic discourse and election monitoring. However, these functionalities have now been discontinued.
Meta has until 6 September to reply to the Commission request. Based on this, the EU executive will determine next steps, which could include interim measures, and non-compliance decisions. 
This story has been updated with a comment from Meta.