The EU must ensure greater access to journalistic data to prevent tech giants from stifling press freedom
The European Union (EU) is currently finalising the conditions for granting researchers access to data from online platforms under the European Digital Services Act (DSA). In response to the European Commission’s public consultation on the second draft, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is calling on the EU to ensure that access to data on the journalistic content posted on these platforms is straightforward and effective. This data is vital to measuring and safeguarding press freedom and media pluralism in digital spaces.
While search engines and digital platforms drive the majority of traffic to online media, these same companies restrict access to their data, making it difficult for external companies, organisations and institutions to conduct independent analyses of their dissemination of journalistic content.
The DSA aims to address this issue by granting data access rights to competent national authorities — known as Digital Services Coordinators — and accredited researchers. However, the conditions for this access — which were recently clarified by the European Commission and are open for public consultation until 10 December — remain restrictive and uncertain.
“We’re in a situation where a handful of private companies driven by the ideologies and economic interests of their owners control access to journalistic information for five billion citizens. While the data transparency envisioned by the DSA is a welcome step towards greater transparency, the access process remains fraught with obstacles and legal ambiguity. RSF is calling on the European Commission to provide guarantees to prevent these digital platforms from unfairly restricting access to their data — especially data related to journalistic content.
In recent months, digital platforms have intensified restrictions on data access rights. This trend peaked in August 2024, when the social media giant Meta removed CrowTangle, its tool for analysing the spread of disinformation on Facebook and Instagram. In addition to implementing these controversial restrictions, which have been highly criticised by researchers and civil society, these companies have significantly reduced the visibility of journalistic content on their platforms. In 2023, online media audiences dropped by 48% on Facebook and 27% on X (formerly Twitter).
The DSA requires social media platforms and search engines to provide Digital Services Coordinators and accredited researchers with the necessary data for studying, preventing, and mitigating “systemic risks.” These risks include the negative impact of their services on "freedom of expression and information, including media freedom and pluralism." While the European Commission has launched procedures to demand more transparency from these online platforms, legal uncertainties around which data should be collected and how it should be made available could provide platforms with ways to evade their obligations.
To ensure that vital independent research into press freedom and the pluralism of online information can take place, RSF has responded to the Commission’s consultation with three key requests:
- Require platforms and search engines to collect, compile, and provide Digital Services Coordinators and accredited researchers with data on audience metrics, content recommendations, moderation practices, and the (de)monetisation of journalistic content, with detailed information on time, geographic location, and topic.
- Implement safeguards to ensure that regulations protecting confidential information and trade secrets cannot be misused to block access to data related to journalistic content.
- Clarify the specific cases in which the protection of confidential information and trade secrets can be legitimately invoked, while explicitly excluding data of public interest related to journalism from these protections.
