A new report by the Centre for Digital Governance and Columbia World Projects calls for stronger international collaboration, sustainable infrastructure, and better training to expand researcher access to social media data. The findings highlight practical steps to improve transparency and accountability in how digital platforms shape our societies.
Over the past year, the Centre for Digital Governance at the Hertie School and Columbia World Projects, with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, brought together over 120 experts from across academia, regulatory agencies, civil society, and data infrastructure providers in the US and Europe. Their goal: identify current gaps in social media data access and highlight opportunities for public and private funders to strengthen democratic institutions and norms worldwide.
Despite heightened geopolitical uncertainty and a decline in both public and philanthropic support, access to social media data remains essential. Without it, citizens cannot make informed choices about the content they encounter, regulators cannot hold platforms accountable under emerging online safety frameworks, and researchers cannot highlight deficiencies in both platform operations and regulatory approaches. This transparency deficit poses real risks to fundamental rights and democratic norms globally.
The report, titled “Building Capacity for Social Media Data Access” provides actionable recommendations across three key areas:
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Supporting Underlying Data Access Infrastructure – Establish foundational tools and platforms to enable secure, large-scale access to social media data.
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Building Best Practices for the Research Community – Strengthen training in data protection, security, and ethical research practices to ensure responsible use of sensitive data.
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Fostering Researcher-Regulator Relationships – Create mechanisms for ongoing collaboration between independent researchers and regulators, aligning efforts internationally to enhance accountability.
Contributors include Mark Scott, Research Fellow at the Centre for Digital Governance, Professor Daniela Stockmann, Director of the Centre, alongside Thomas Asher, Director of Research and Engagement at Columbia World Projects, and Anna Marchese, Senior Project Officer at Columbia World Projects. Together, the authors call for immediate action to build the infrastructure, capacity, and standards needed to ensure meaningful, secure, and equitable social media data access.
