Meta kills off misinformation tracking tool CrowdTangle despite pleas from researchers, journalists

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms has shut down CrowdTangle, a tool widely used by researchers, watchdog organizations and journalists to monitor social media posts, notably to track how misinformation spreads on the company's platforms.

Wednesday's shutdown, which Meta announced earlier this year, has been protested by researchers and nonprofits. In May, dozens of groups, including the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Digital Forensic Research Lab at the Atlantic Council, Human Rights Watch and NYU’s Center for Social Media & Politics, sent a letter to the company asking that it keep the tool running through at least January so it would be available through the U.S. presidential elections.

“This decision jeopardizes essential pre- and post-election oversight mechanisms and undermines Meta’s transparency efforts during this critical period, and at a time when social trust and digital democracy are alarmingly fragile,” the letter said.

CrowdTangle, “has been an essential tool in helping researchers parse through the vast amount of information on the platform and identify harmful content and threats,” it added.

In March, the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation sent Meta a similar letter asking it to keep the tool, which was available for free, functioning until January. That letter was also signed by several dozen groups and individual academic researchers.

“For years, CrowdTangle has represented an industry best practice for real-time platform transparency. It has become a lifeline for understanding how disinformation, hate speech, and voter suppression spread on Facebook, undermining civic discourse and democracy," the Mozilla letter said.

Meta has released an alternative to CrowdTangle, called the Meta Content Library. But access to it is limited to academic researchers and nonprofits, which excludes most news organizations. Critics have also complained that it's not as useful as CrowdTangle — at least not yet.

Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, said in a blog post last week that the company has been gathering feedback about Meta Content Library from “hundreds of researchers in order to make it more user-friendly and help them find the data they need for their work.”

Meta said Wednesday that CrowdTangle doesn’t provide a complete picture of what is happening on its platforms and said its new tools are more comprehensive.

Meta acquired CrowdTangle in 2016.

FILE - A person stands in front of a Meta sign outside of the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

UDINE, Italy (AP) — The city of Udine is on high alert as Italy prepares to host Israel in a competitive soccer match on Monday.

The Nations League match is being played among the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East which has spread to Lebanon after more than a year-long war in Gaza.

It is the first match Israel has played outside neutral Hungary this year. After the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7 last year, the national soccer team played in Kosovo and Andorra last November.

All Israel matches since then have been played in Hungary, including last month’s away game against Belgium in the Nations League after the Belgian soccer federation refused to host the game for security reasons.

“We are going to play this match with the hope of convincing ever more people of the wrongness of war,” Italy coach Luciano Spalletti said. “There are many Israelis who don’t want it and we must convince ever more people that this is something that has to stop.”

Fewer than 12,000 tickets have been sold for Monday's match — less than half the capacity of the 25,000-seater Stadio Friuli — amid stringent security measures.

Areas around the stadium were blocked off 48 hours before kick-off and declared a “Red Zone” and only fans with tickets can pass through the tall metal barriers. Supporters have been strongly advised to arrive early because of rigorous checks.

Hundreds of extra police officers have also been called up from surrounding areas.

There is a pro-Palestine demonstration planned for 5 p.m. local time in the city center — just under four hours before the match kicks off — with organisers expecting around 4,000 people to attend.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Italy's head coach Luciano Spalletti during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Italy and Belgium at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)