CSMaP Joins Letter Urging Meta to Maintain CrowdTangle

For years, CrowdTangle has been a critical tool used by journalists, researchers, and election observers to investigate the flow of information on Facebook and Instagram. But recently, Meta announced plans to discontinue CrowdTangle in August and replace it with the Meta Content Library, which has more restrictive rules and offers fewer insights.

Today, CSMaP joined more than 50 organizations and individuals urging Meta to reverse course and maintain full functionality of CrowdTangle beyond Inauguration Day.

CrowdTangle has long stood as a paragon of transparency in digital platform operations, offering real-time insights into the dissemination of disinformation, hate speech, and voter suppression efforts on Facebook. This tool has not only been instrumental in addressing challenges to civic discourse and democracy, but has also supported research into human rights abuses, public health crises, and more. Its imminent closure, announced without a ready or equivalent alternative, undermines the spirit of transparency and the broader needs of election monitoring.

Given the gravity of the threats to US democracy and the urgency brought on by your announced timeline for closure of CrowdTangle, we respectfully request that you announce plans to delay the transition as soon as possible and well ahead of your current August deadline.