European Researchers Say Big Tech Is Blocking Access To Their Dat
· news
The Data Blackout: How Big Tech is Suffocating Research into Disinformation
The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), passed in 2023, aimed to give vetted academics access to proprietary data needed to study the spread of disinformation. However, two years later, it’s clear that Big Tech companies are blocking this access.
Adriana Iamnitchi, chair of computational social sciences at Maastricht University, and her team applied for access to TikTok’s Application Programming Interface (API) under the DSA in October 2025. Their request was denied, with TikTok citing security requirements and commercial interests as reasons. However, Iamnitchi believes that TikTok was hiding something.
The Data Barrier
Researchers like Iamnitchi are seeking access to proprietary tools and APIs used by Big Tech companies to moderate content, recommend posts, and identify suspicious activity. This data is crucial for understanding how social media platforms shape society but is also the thing these companies are most reluctant to share.
The DSA allows vetted researchers to access API data if they can show it will help in studying systemic risks. However, researchers say they’re struggling to meet security requirements and face narrow interpretations from platforms of what qualifies as a systemic risk. Application forms differ by platform but typically require data to be stored on infrastructure that cannot be compromised – a resource most universities lack.
The True Cost of Research
Even for researchers who secure approval, there’s no guarantee the data is good. API data can be difficult to reproduce, making it impossible for colleagues to check for errors – a basic requirement of science. Researchers often face daily quotas that limit their ability to study anything at scale. TikTok’s daily quota of 1,000 API requests, for example, allows researchers to pull up to 100,000 video and comment records or up to 2 million follower records per day.
The Big Tech Obfuscation
Big Tech companies are masters at making their data practices opaque. Meta shut down CrowdTangle in 2023, replacing it with content libraries that require payment and robust privacy protections. X (formerly Twitter) has paywalled its API data, forcing academics to shell out hundreds of dollars a month.
The Consequences
The consequences of the data blackout are dire. Without access to proprietary tools and APIs, researchers will be unable to study the spread of disinformation at scale. They’ll be forced to rely on incomplete or inaccurate data, which can lead to flawed conclusions that do more harm than good.
Big Tech companies are using every trick in the book to limit research into their data practices. They’re hiding behind vague security requirements and narrow interpretations of what constitutes systemic risk. And they’re doing it all while claiming to be committed to transparency and accountability.
The Next Move
The EU needs to take a hard look at how its DSA is being implemented. It must work with Big Tech companies to create a more transparent and accountable system for researchers. This means creating clear guidelines for what constitutes systemic risk, streamlining the application process, and providing resources for universities to meet security requirements.
Ultimately, it’s up to researchers themselves to push back against this data blackout. They need to be more vocal about their struggles with Big Tech companies and demand greater transparency and accountability from these platforms. It’s time to shine a light into the dark corners of social media – and hold those responsible accountable for their actions.
The stakes are high, but the consequences of inaction will be catastrophic. We can’t afford to let Big Tech suffocate research into disinformation any longer.
Reader Views
- ADAnalyst D. Park · policy analyst
The European Union's Digital Services Act has been watered down by Big Tech's clever maneuvering. While researchers can apply for access to proprietary data, the process is intentionally designed to be arduous and costly, thereby deterring all but the most well-funded institutions. What's often overlooked is how this affects not only academic research but also the development of AI-powered content moderation tools, which rely on training datasets that are precisely these APIs' outputs. The lack of access to high-quality data will ultimately hinder our ability to tackle social media-related issues, such as disinformation and extremism.
- RJReporter J. Avery · staff reporter
It's astonishing that Big Tech is exploiting loopholes in the Digital Services Act to withhold critical data from researchers who need it to study disinformation. But what's equally disturbing is how this blockade stifles not just research, but innovation itself. By restricting access to proprietary tools and APIs, tech giants are essentially imposing a self-serving intellectual property regime that suppresses external scrutiny of their moderation practices.
- EKEditor K. Wells · editor
The Data Blackout: A Study in Obfuscation While researchers like Adriana Iamnitchi are justifiably outraged by Big Tech's blockage of access to proprietary data, we should also examine the infrastructure that enables this barrier. The DSA's reliance on vetted academics is laudable, but it inadvertently creates a power imbalance: universities, with their limited resources, must conform to platforms' narrow interpretations of systemic risks. Meanwhile, companies like TikTok continue to exploit this framework, prioritizing commercial interests over transparency. It's time to reevaluate the DSA and ensure that access to critical data isn't tied to the whims of these tech giants.