Journalists, researchers, and politicians are mourning Meta shutdown of CrowdTangle, a tool they used to track the spread of disinformation on Facebook and Instagram.
Meta Replacement: The Content Library
In CrowdTangle’s place, Meta offers its Content Library, limiting usage to individuals from “qualified academic or nonprofit institutions who are pursuing scientific or public interest research.” This restriction bars many researchers, academics, and journalists from accessing the tool.
Criticism of the Content Library
Users of the Meta Content Library argue that it is less transparent and accessible, has fewer features, and offers a worse user experience than CrowdTangle. Many community members have written open letters to Meta in protest, questioning why a valuable tool for combating misinformation was replaced with a less effective one, especially just months before a highly contentious U.S. election.
Meta Justification for Shutting Down CrowdTangle
Meta has provided limited answers about the decision. At an MIT Technology Review conference in May, Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, described CrowdTangle as a “degrading tool” that doesn’t offer complete and accurate insights into what’s happening on Facebook.
The Contradiction in Meta Stance
Clegg’s description of CrowdTangle contrasts sharply. Meta’s previous promotion of the platform in 2020 as a tool to help election boards identify misinformation and voter suppression.
Meta’s Defense of the Content Library
Meta claims that the Content Library provides more detailed insights into what people see and experience on Facebook and Instagram. A Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch that the new tools offer a more comprehensive data-gathering experience, including multimedia from Reels and page view counts, and will soon include Threads content.
Disagreement Among Researchers
Many researchers accustomed to CrowdTangle disagree with Meta’s assessment, arguing that CrowdTangle provided valuable data on influential accounts with high engagement. Cameron Hickey, CEO of the National Conference on Citizenship, noted that the Content Library offers only “1% of the features” available in CrowdTangle.
Limitations of the Content Library
Hickey highlighted that the Content Library does not allow for some features, such as tracking follower growth over time. Creating interactive charts and public dashboards is tedious, and users cannot download them: all posts—only those from accounts with more than 25,000 followers.
Impact on Civil Society and Watchdog Groups
The limitations of the Content Library mean that many watchdog groups that previously used CrowdTangle to track misinformation are now unable to do so. Media Matters, a nonprofit watchdog journalism organization, can no longer access the tool. Which it previously used to monitor engagement with right-wing content on Facebook.
The Broader Impact on Election Monitoring
Critics warn that CrowdTangle’s shutdown will result in fewer civil society groups being able to monitor and track the situation. What’s happening on Facebook and Instagram during the upcoming election year?
A Comparison with Twitter’s API Changes
Hickey contrasted Meta’s creation of the Content Library with Elon Musk’s actions at Twitter (now X). After purchasing the platform, Musk immediately limited access to Twitter. API, making it more expensive and less accessible to developers, journalists, and researchers. The cheapest enterprise X API package now costs $42,000 a month and provides access to only 50 million posts.
