Hello, FIRST: Meta announced it would kill CrowdTangle – a crucial real-time transparency tool used to monitor disinformation – in the middle of the biggest election year on record.1 The reaction from the Mozilla community was swift: more than 179 organisations, researchers, and journalists signed our open letter calling on Meta to protect the integrity of upcoming elections by maintaining CrowdTangle research,2 and 32,789 of us called on Meta to rethink their decision by signing Mozilla’s petition.3 THEN: The European Commission hit Meta with a formal investigation, explicitly naming the company’s decision to ditch CrowdTangle and cut off access to real-time data used to monitor political disinformation during elections.4 Media outlets picked up this story, with headline after headline sharing our collective concerns.5 NOW: Meta is under immense pressure – from our movement, the media, election integrity experts, and now the EU Commission. And then, in what was little more than a PR move and a poor attempt at transparency, Meta released some shoddy, last-minute EU Elections displays with not enough time to make use of them.6 Meta hasn’t responded to our demands yet – but they are starting to crack. Momentum is on our side, and we must keep up the pressure in order to protect elections globally. If you’re ready to protect election integrity – both in this year’s upcoming elections and in the years ahead – we hope you’ll add a donation to sustain this campaign. Can you make a $10 USD donation to Mozilla today? Your contribution will support the next phase of this important campaign to reduce the spread of disinformation, hate speech, and voter suppression on Facebook and Instagram. Donate now → In the future, Meta plans to replace CrowdTangle with a new tool called the Content Library. But currently, this tool doesn’t provide the transparency, insights and search capabilities offered by CrowdTangle. Most importantly, currently only a relatively small number of researchers have access to it – and most journalists are blocked from using it.7 That’s why, over the coming months and years, Mozilla will work with policymakers, researchers, journalists, watchdogs and researchers to: Call out Meta’s PR moves and distractions, like their last-minute, shoddy, and largely unhelpful EU Elections displays. We’ll ensure journalists and lawmakers aren’t duped by the company. Instead we will call these what they are: bare minimum transparency efforts, when Meta still plans to abandon the best-functioning transparency tool they have. Pressure the European Commission to hold Meta to account – the world is watching the European Commission’s next move as the principal regulator of the strongest platform regulations to date. We’ll call on the Commission to maintain their formal proceedings into Meta’s decision to shutter CrowdTangle and to continue to push all platforms to implement comprehensive public data transparency tools. Ensure CrowdTangle is maintained during this critical year of elections until a new fit-for-purpose tool to monitor election content globally is widely available to researchers, non-profit organisations and, critically, to journalists. Push for upgrades to Meta’s Content Library – if this library is to replace CrowdTangle, then it needs substantial upgrades to its functionality as soon as possible. That includes features like automated insights, tools for benchmarking, robust search flexibility, and more robust ways to use the data. We are also calling on Meta to regularly consult with the global CrowdTangle community to ensure the new Content Library meets their needs. At Mozilla, we are committed to pushing Meta to provide a permanent, real-time civic discourse and election monitoring tools – both for this year’s upcoming elections, and to help protect democracy from disinformation, hate speech and voter suppression in the years ahead. Meaningful, real-time transparency into the spread of online content is vital. Our long-term campaign isn’t just about which data points are eventually shared, it’s also about ensuring that these tools are widely available to all of civil society. But winning these changes will require keeping up the pressure through long-term advocacy efforts, which is sustained by grassroots donations from people like you. Will you consider making a $10 USD donation to support this global movement to secure real-time platform transparency from Meta? Together we can maintain CrowdTangle research and secure big upgrades to Meta’s new Content Library to protect our communities from the spread of disinformation and hate speech. Thank you for all you do for the internet, and to protect elections around the world. Claire Pershan
EU Advocacy Lead Mozilla Donate now → More Information: 1. CrowdTangle: Important Update to CrowdTangle. Published March 2024. 2. Mozilla Foundation: Open Letter To Meta. 14 March 2024. 3. Mozilla Foundation: TELL META: Don't Kill Your Crucial Transparency Tool, CrowdTangle! April 2024. 4. European Commission: Don’t be Commission opens formal proceedings against Facebook and Instagram under the Digital Services Act. 30 April 2024. 5. Some examples of the press coverage: a. Fast Company: Former CrowdTangle CEO has questions about Meta’s decision to close the research tool during an election year. 23 March 2024. b. Wired: Meta Kills a Crucial Transparency Tool at the Worst Possible Time. 25 March 2024. 6. Mozilla Foundation: Don’t be Fooled by Meta’s Transparency Display: Election Integrity Risks Remain. 4 June 2024. 7. For more information about the differences between CrowdTangle and the current Content Library – Mozilla Foundation: Open Letter To Meta. 14 March 2024. | 