Researchers face a complex and shifting landscape in accessing social media data. Despite the vast social importance of large social media platforms, data access has traditionally been through APIs, web-scraping, and informal methods, due to a lack of legal mandates. In the EU, the recently implemented Digital Services Act (DSA) requires platforms to provide data access for researchers under specific conditions, aiming to safeguard users’ rights and address societal risks. Globally, however, researchers continue to navigate challenges in accessing such data. To better understand these difficulties, we conducted 11 exploratory interviews with platform data access experts worldwide about the challenges of platform data access in their respective regions. We present these high-level findings in this exploratory report.
