European Commission asks Meta for details on data access and election monitoring

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The European Commission sent an information request to Meta on Friday (August 16) under the Digital Services Act (DSA), seeking details on compliance with data access and election monitoring requirements.

A request for information is a formal process to collect detailed data to assess compliance or evidence. Meta has until September 6 to respond.

In the Commission’s latest DSA action against Meta, the Commission Seeking Information About how the company plans to comply with researchers’ requests for access to publicly available data on Facebook and Instagram, and to update its election and civic discourse monitoring features.

Previously, Meta had discontinued the CrowdTangle tool, which was used to track and analyze social media content and engagement on Facebook and Instagram.

“We announced last year that we would stop using CrowdTangle because it did not provide a complete picture of what was happening on our platform,” a Meta spokesperson told Euractiv.

“Instead, we built a new, more comprehensive tool for researchers called Meta content library and APIThe data could be used to access and interact with publicly available data on Facebook and Instagram for research and analysis purposes, the spokesperson said, adding that they would “continue discussions with the committee”.

The EU’s digital rulebook, the DSA, came into force on February 17, setting out comprehensive regulations for managing content on online platforms.

Meta’s Facebook and Instagram were classified as very large online platforms (VLOPs) under the DSA last year, meaning they must follow strict rules for dealing with illegal and harmful content.

On April 30, the Committee Start an investigation Under the DSA, Meta was sued for failing to provide effective real-time election monitoring tools and data access to researchers.

Meta addressed these issues in May with new real-time dashboards in CrowdTangle that displayed real-time data and trends related to social media activity and election monitoring. Those features have now been retired.

Next steps

Depending on Meta’s response, the Commission may take a number of actions: take interim measures to quickly resolve the issue; issue a non-compliance decision if Meta is found not to be in compliance with legal requirements; or accept Meta’s commitment to make the necessary changes and resolve the issue.

The Commission may also impose fines for incomplete or misleading information and may issue formal compliance requests, which may result in penalties for failure to respond.

This is the latest in a series of actions taken against Meta under the DSA.

February, Meta and TikTok Announce They sued the Commission over its annual regulatory fees imposed under the DSA. roll out The European Commission launched an investigation into Meta’s possible violation of the DSA’s provisions on the protection of minors. defendant The consequences of breaching digital competition rules under the EU competition legislation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and its “pay or agree” model.