Social Media Companies Must Share Data

Billions of people around the globe use social media platforms to make sense of their world. Companies such as Meta, Twitter and TikTok control these forums but face little public oversight or accountability. Despite collecting vast amounts of data about every interaction that takes place on their pages, they share little information with researchers, preventing us from understanding the effects of social media on individuals and society. After two decades of minimal regulation and many significant crises, it is time to require more transparency from social media companies. We are particularly concerned about the way social media has become a conduit for the spread of false and misleading information about every issue of concern to society, including the U.S. 2020 election, the January 6 Capitol insurrection, the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine. We don't know what the next crisis will be, but we do know that when it happens, false claims about it will circulate on these platforms.