Meta removes CrowdTangle, its tool to fight disinformation

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will remove CrowdTangle, software widely used by journalists to track online disinformation on its platforms. It will no longer be available after August 14, 2024, three months before the American elections. And will be replaced by a new tool only accessible to non-profit organizations.

Meta (our photo), the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will remove CrowdTangle, software widely used by journalists to track disinformation online. AP - Jeff Chiu

By: RFI with AFP

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For some, this is a serious regression, even a threat to the integrity of elections. For years, CrowdTangle has enabled its users to spot and analyze misinformation on

social networks

. Its services, which are used by major media like the BBC, have made it possible to track down conspiracy theories, or even to identify manipulation campaigns, piloted from abroad. 

Unflattering information

During the 2020 presidential election, it was thanks to this software that American electoral officials were able to identify viral videos, unfoundedly suggesting the theft of postal ballots. But for several months, CrowdTangle has been in the crosshairs of

Meta

management

, which believes that the software is a real spy on the group's activities. 

Many journalists used it to gather unflattering information, such as the presence of numerous pirated games on its video game application. The Palo Alto company plans to replace it with a new tool that researchers say does not have the same functionality. Former CrowdTangle CEO Brandon Silverman tells AFP that the new program is still under development: " 

It's a whole new technology that Meta has yet to build to protect the integrity of elections 

." The Mozilla Foundation, a global non-profit organization, requested in an open letter to Meta that the service be retained until at least January 2025.

Also read: Artificial intelligence and fake news: “Social networks don’t really play the information game”

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