Even for researchers who get approval, “there’s no guarantee that the data is good,” said LK Seiling, coordinator of the DSA40 Collaborativea German initiative that tracks 46 DSA applications. API data is often difficult for a colleague to reproduce, so a researcher’s work cannot be checked for errors, which Iamnitchi said is a “basic requirement of science.”
DSA40 data shows that of 46 requests tracked, 20 were approved and 14 were rejected. But approval rates vary widely: TikTok approved 11 of 13 applications, while X rejected 11 of 23. The true rejection rate is likely higher because the tracker relies on voluntary reporting, Seiling said.
“There is no structured advantage for researchers to use this route,” Seiling said. “Data access, as currently configured, attempts to disincentivize researchers.”
A TikTok spokesperson told WIRED that the company has given access to its tools to more than 1,500 research teams, approved 130 apps in the EU in the second half of last year, and that its daily quota of 1,000 API requests allows researchers to obtain up to 100,000 video and comment records per day, or up to 2 million follower records. TikTok said it considers its research tools to be compliant with the DSA, but would “welcome more public guidance.”
A Meta spokesperson said CrowdTangle covered only a fraction of the company’s public data, while the meta content library and API that replaced it are “the most comprehensive research tools to date.” They cover Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp channels and threads with “strong privacy protections,” and qualified researchers from nonprofit organizations, including journalists, can apply.
There are few solutions. Iamnitchi and Allen said they resort to scraping on platforms that allow it, a time-consuming process that exports website data to spreadsheets. Even with sophisticated tools, scraping “is not very complete,” Allen said. It cannot capture an account’s entire list of followers, making it difficult to map coordinated disinformation networks.
One way to challenge a rejected application is to take the platforms to court. Allen said DRI and the Civil Rights Society requested access to X’s API in April 2024 to study political speech ahead of Germany’s federal election. X rejected the request in November, prompting DRI to file a lawsuit in February 2025.
