Facebook, now named Meta, bought CrowdTangle in 2016. Silverman said his team aimed to make Facebook the most transparent social media company in the world—but the tech giant ultimately paused all work on CrowdTangle and disbanded the team running it last year. Silverman, who subsequently left the company, said the CrowdTangle tool is now “slowly dying” at Meta, while other platforms continue to do almost nothing to increase transparency.
In turn, some lawmakers are now considering a different approach to regulating social media. Rather than trying to impose new restrictions or break up tech titans, a U.S. Senate bill would require social media companies like Santa Monica-based Snap and Culver City-based (and Chinese-owned) TikTok to share previously undisclosed data with credible researchers. The idea is that transparency would not only better inform U.S. policymakers—who are, to put it kindly, definitely not tech experts—but maybe even change companies’ behaviors since they’d know that they're being watched.
Take, for example, the disclosures from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. Documents she leaked last year showed that Meta retained research proving Instagram’s toxic effect on young girls. That information galvanized lawmakers into writing legislation aimed at protecting teens from the harms of social media, including bills in California. It remains to be seen whether those actions ultimately make a difference, but there’s no doubt that Haugen’s leak brought much-needed attention to the issue.
The Senate bill—sponsored by U.S. Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)—would let independent researchers submit proposals to the National Science Foundation. If that agency approved the requests, social media companies would be forced to provide the necessary data, subject to privacy protections, or else face enforcement from the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC could also require platforms to share certain data on an ongoing basis.
Congress, of course, hosts a lot of hearings about bills that never become law, and its track record with big tech is especially poor. But over in Europe, lawmakers have just passed a law that would, among many other things, require TikTok and others to share more data with researchers about how their platforms work. So even if the U.S. effort fails, we’ll soon learn a lot more about TikTok and Snap. —Christian Hetrick
Update, May 10: This story has been updated to clarify CrowdTangle's relationship with Meta (formerly Facebook).
Famous Birthdays—a sort of Wikipedia-for-internet personalities—ranks online influencers based on activity on its platform. Last month, the top movers included a NBA2K video game savant, a beauty and fashion influencer and a trampoline daredevil.
On this week's PCH Driven podcast, Blenders Eyewear founder Chase Fisher talks about bootstrapping his startup—which he eventually sold for $90 million—and how the experience helped him build his skillset as a salesman and mental toughness as an entrepreneur.
Come join the dot.LA team for a fun and enlightening evening that will convene top proptech founders, investors and operators to mingle and discuss how SoCal real estate startups are reshaping the world’s largest asset class. Interested in attending? Let us know!
What We’re Reading Elsewhere...
- Warner Bros Discovery recently mandated that WarnerMedia employees return to the office, reportedly sparking frustration at the newly merged company.
- A look inside Riot Games' posh new West L.A. offices.
- Riot Games sues Bytedance subsidiary for allegedly copying the mobile version of its popular "League of Legends'" video game.
- Sherman Oaks-based 3D ecommerce company Vntana partners with BeyondXR to create virtual showrooms on metaverse platforms.
- Lancaster partners with Choshu Industries to further its aim of becoming the first "hydrogen city."
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