Meta's Content Library Serves As A Digital 'Clean Room' For Researchers To Access Data

Meta announced the launch of new tools that would provide qualifying researchers with access to data from its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram in order to “support public interest research.” The previously beta-tested Meta Content Library and Content Library API tools will share real-time information about user-generated content, such as the number of times a Reel on Instagram is viewed or the number of posts made on a Facebook page.

The Meta Content Library will be accessible via a controlled-access “clean room” that forbids data export. All analysis and inspection of real-time material from Facebook and Instagram will take place via an API with search capabilities. The company’s data search capabilities would be available exclusively to “eligible researchers and professionals” who have been pre-approved. To acquire access to Meta’s data, research organizations or individuals must fill out an application form and offer a full explanation about the objective of the research project in question and who is participating. The ICPSR will conduct an independent assessment of the final approval. Meta claims that once given API access, there are no costs connected with access to the Content Library.

While the new tools may pave the road for data access, they are similar to — and in some ways more limited than — what Meta has previously supplied to academics interested in understanding how material circulates on its applications. There are also valid reasons to be wary. Meta’s Open Research and Transparency team, which also created a researcher API and platform, came under fire in 2021 after it was discovered delivering incomplete and erroneous data to researchers. The corporation then terminated the API access to the same group of researchers from New York University’s Center for Cybersecurity.

After years of anger over how it manages disinformation and harmful content, the new Content Library and API are unlikely to do much to alleviate public pressure. Meta has also come under fire for how it moderates information about the Gaza conflict and how it promises to prevent the spread of fraudulent news about the forthcoming US presidential election. To top it all off, 41 states have launched a lawsuit against Meta for allegedly harming younger users. A tightly guarded API may not be enough to persuade authorities that the corporation has the public’s best interests at heart.