Mozilla's analysis says Facebook's justifications for cutting off access to researchers running NYU's Ad Observatory project “simply do not hold water”

The company says privacy concerns forced it to block access for a team of academics. Whose privacy, exactly? Source: The Mozilla Blog .

Wired 2021-08-05 Gilad Edelman

Discussion

@oliviasolon Olivia Solon on x
It's striking to see how Facebook appears to be cracking down on — or ignoring — research that reflects badly on the platform. Internally it has ignored hate speech & disinfo research & hobbled CrowdTangle. & now it's shutting down external researchers' access to FB data.
@mozilla @mozilla on x
Facebook claims they shut down the researchers accounts due to privacy problems with the Ad Observer. In our view, those claims simply do not hold water. We know this because we reviewed the code ourselves before recommending it. Read more here: https://blog.mozilla.org/...
@markscott82 Mark Scott on x
FB's argument that anyone can access this data via FB's own online register — or that they can access the API themsleves — is flawed. Why? Because I've been trying to do that since May 2018, and it is impossible unless you have a PhD in computer science
@nandoodles Nandini Jammi on x
I can't help but fully 100% believe that the global disinformation problem is an ad fraud problem. It starts and ends with advertisers. https://twitter.com/...
@szhang_ds @szhang_ds on x
When I first brought the problem of fake likes in politics to FB leadership in 2018, a policy director had a solution: Facebook could hide non-friends who liked posts, and bill it as pro-privacy. This would remove the PR risk of discovery, she said. I almost quit on the spot. htt…
@marechalphd Nathalie Maréchal, PhD on x
We need to reframe the “social media governance” conversation as one about ***online advertising*** Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok and the rest exist for one purpose: to generate ad revenue. Everything else is a means for producing ad inventory #itsthebusinessmodel https://tw…
@rebekahktromble Dr. Rebekah Tromble on x
Let's boil this down: As things currently stand, Facebook gets to slurp up our data, sell our attention to advertisers on the basis of that data, and then single-handedly decide to shut down independent efforts to examine whether those ads are manipulative or otherwise harmful. h…
@tarletong Tarleton Gillespie on x
This is SO easy. Facebook: every single ad on your platform should be archived on the page of the user/org posting it, with dates, amounts paid, targeting criteria used. Sorry, advertisers dont need privacy protection. And our world doesnt need secret ads. https://www.wired.com/.…
@lauraedelson2 Laura Edelson on x
is not in the public interest. Facebook should not be able to cynically invoke user privacy to shut down research that puts them in an unflattering light, particularly when the “users” Facebook is talking about are advertisers who have consented to making their ads public. 3/3
@oliviasolon Olivia Solon on x
Mozilla did a privacy review of Ad Observer to determine that: “It collects ads, targeting parameters and metadata associated with the ads. It does not collect personal posts or information about your friends. And it does not compile a user profile on its servers.”
@arzugeybulla Arzu Geybulla on x
Perhaps the company acted not to stay in the government's good graces but because it doesn't want the public to learn one of its most closely guarded secrets: who gets shown which ads, and why. https://www.wired.com/...
@daphnehk Daphne Keller on x
This is a hard issue. Personally, I'd trust my friends to trust a browser extension that Mozilla reviewed and said wouldn't collect my data. But I wouldn't trust my friends if they chose to trust a lot of other groups claiming to have done doing this kind of vetting. https://twit…
@persily Nate Persily on x
Join me on In Lieu of Fun today to talk about Facebook's termination of NYU's Ad Observer and why we need federal legislation that will compel FB and Google to develop data-sharing programs for approved university researchers. https://twitter.com/...
@brianfagioli Brian Fagioli on x
@Techmeme @GiladEdelman I'd have to side with Facebook on this one. Mozilla argues that since it is open source, Facebook can just review it to make sure it doesn't violate rules regarding privacy. Sorry, but I prefer FB simply be extra cautious and ban it rather than have to con…
@giladedelman Gilad Edelman on x
Sometimes privacy and transparency are in real tension. I don't believe this is one of those times. https://www.wired.com/...
@frankpallone Rep. Frank Pallone on x
These are the actions of a company that clearly has something to hide about how dangerous misinformation and disinformation is spreading on its platform. https://www.vice.com/...
@marechalphd Nathalie Maréchal, PhD on x
FB has spent the past decade+ trying to govern (& be seen to govern) its user generated content. As it should! (Lots of ppl are new-ish to this, but experts like @ubiquity75 @rmack @jilliancyork have been pressuring tech co's to apply human rights standards to CoMo for YEARS)
@accountabletech @accountabletech on x
Facebook's words vs. Facebook's actions. 🤔 https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
super helpful post from @mozilla here, too. Between @jonathanmayer and @Mozilla smacking down Facebook's pretense of privacy, you're talking about people highly technical and highly sophisticated on policy, law and concerns for user privacy. https://blog.mozilla.org/...
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
I talked to to @AlexanderAbdo, lawyer to the NYU Ad Observer folks, about Facebook banning them from the platform — and how to ensure good research gets done on big tech platforms https://www.platformer.news/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@rebekahktromble Dr. Rebekah Tromble on x
This is masterful reporting. @GiladEdelman digs into Facebook's FTC consent decree and shows the slight of hand Facebook is attempting in their shut down of NYU's ad transparency tools. https://twitter.com/...
@sachp Super Deluxe on x
In a way it's quite beautiful to watch Facebook throw this tantrum. And to learn what kind of research gets them worked up. Because many of us may research Facebook but scrutinizing how they make money is what makes them sit up and take notice. https://www.wired.com/...
@jameeljaffer Jameel Jaffer on x
Also notable that Facebook has apparently concluded that the bad press it gets from shutting down independent research into misinformation is preferable to the bad press it gets when researchers are allowed to study misinformation on Facebook and publish their findings. https://t…
@damiancollins Damian Collins on x
Facebook is closing down legitimate academic research into targeted advertising on its platform. This shows once again that they are more concerned about protecting their interests than allowing independent scrutiny of how their ad tools are used & abused https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
@nandoodles This is exactly right. Much the same as unbridled data, the lack of a tight supply chain to know where ad investment and creatives are going along with the data underneath it undermines the value of brands and information integrity.
@jonathanmayer Jonathan Mayer on x
Facebook's position also has concerning free speech implications. This type of crowdsourced research depends on speech: users reporting their own experiences on the platform. Facebook wants to gatekeep how users record and relate what they see on Facebook. https://twitter.com/...
@oliviasolon Olivia Solon on x
Wow. @mozilla isn't pulling any punches here. “Facebook claims the accounts were shut down due to privacy problems with the Ad Observer. In our view, those claims simply do not hold water.” https://blog.mozilla.org/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
@granick @EthanZ It's an interesting academic argument when thinking about automated scaled decision-making but it doesn't hold water when you really understand their core biz model, the facts on Cambridge Analytica, their cover-up and failure to come clean afterward. 2/2
@lauraedelson2 Laura Edelson on x
This evening, Facebook suspended my Facebook account and the accounts of several people associated with Cybersecurity for Democracy, our team at NYU. This has the effect of cutting off our access to Facebook's Ad Library data, as well as Crowdtangle. 1/4
@lauraedelson2 Laura Edelson on x
By suspending our accounts, Facebook has effectively ended all this work. Facebook has also effectively cut off access to more than two dozen other researchers and journalists who get access to Facebook data through our project, 3/4
@issielapowsky Issie Lapowsky on x
NEW: Facebook is accusing NYU researchers of collecting data on users who never consented, which sounds bad, but leaves out a huge detail. The users here are advertisers — whose ads are already public and whose data Facebook stores in a public archive. https://www.protocol.com/..…
@dellcam Dell Cameron on x
NEW: Senate Intel Chair @MarkWarner condemns Facebook's decision, saying the NYU team's work has exposed fraud & predatory schemes on the network. He says he called on FB to work w/ researchers to root out harm & exploitation. “Instead, Facebook has seemingly done the opposite.” …
@ronwyden Ron Wyden on x
After years of abusing users' privacy, it's rich for Facebook to use it as an excuse to crack down on researchers exposing its problems. I've asked the FTC to confirm that this excuse is as bogus as it sounds. https://twitter.com/...
@josephfcox Joseph Cox on x
Senator Mark Warner statement on Facebook shutting the accounts of researchers who were analyzing political ads on the platform https://twitter.com/...
@juliaangwin Julia Angwin on x
Facebook's actions are disappointing, but we remain committed to continuing this vital accountability work through our own independent journalism Statement from @nabihasyed & me about Facebook's actions against independent researchers. https://themarkup.org/...
@daithaigilbert David Gilbert on x
Facebook last night shut down the accounts of researchers at NYU who have been among Facebook's biggest critics. Facebook says it was for privacy reasons. But experts like @jason_kint @FBoversight @snurb_dot_info and @jonathanmayer disagree https://www.vice.com/...
@justinhendrix Justin Hendrix on x
1/ Just want to highlight this once more. Why would this research be so sensitive? Because House Jan 6 Select Committee members including Rep. @BennieGThompson, @RepRaskin and @RepAdamSchiff are considering what to subpoena and who should testify. https://twitter.com/...
@profcarroll David Carroll on x
Recall that Cambridge Analytica was in fact a cover-up exposed by reporters. Facebook did not want the world to know about it. https://twitter.com/...
@lauraedelson2 Laura Edelson on x
Over the last several years, we've used this access to uncover systemic flaws in the Facebook Ad Library, identify misinformation in political ads including many sowing distrust in our election system, and to study Facebook's apparent amplification of partisan misinformation. 2/4
@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
NEW: Facebook says it has disabled accounts and severed API access for a group of NYU researchers running the Ad Observatory project. FB sent the same group a cease and desist letter in Oct. The researchers are studying political ad targeting on FB https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@demandprogress @demandprogress on x
Facebook is suspending the accounts of the very activists who seek to hold it accountable. The Big Tech giant will do everything it can to save face. We need to #BreakUpFacebook now.https://www.vice.com/...
@daithaigilbert David Gilbert on x
Why did FB choose last night as the moment to shut down NYU researchers' accounts? According to one of them, @LauraEdelson2, it happened “hours after we informed Facebook that we were studying the spread of disinformation about Jan. 6.” cc @FBoversight https://www.vice.com/...
@justinhendrix Justin Hendrix on x
Facebook would clearly prefer any results on this matter come out of its approved research program. https://twitter.com/...
@gerritd Gerrit De Vynck on x
Scraping policies are bizarre to me. If it's publicly available, why not allow it? If you're worried about user privacy, encourage your users to lock down the public elements of their accounts. But that might hurt engagement... https://twitter.com/...
@alexanderabdo Alex Abdo on x
The answer can't be that Facebook gets to unilaterally decide what the public knows about the platform. https://twitter.com/...
@timcast Tim Pool on x
This is interesting Facebook did not ban them for speech violations, the ban was for privacy violations. FB says the group as collecting data on people who did not consent I think FB should still have to prove the violation occurred https://twitter.com/...
@cendemtech @cendemtech on x
📢📢 Facebook's decision to disable access by researchers at the NYU Ad Observatory is a troubling restraint on independent research about Facebook's political ad targeting. User privacy & independent research are not incompatible. Facebook should restore the researchers' access. h…
@lucaskuncemo Lucas Kunce on x
Facebook undermines our democracy, makes people less safe, and silences watchdogs who ask them to do better. Under the status quo, they do so with impunity. We need to repeal Section 230. We need to strengthen the FTC. And we need to break them up. https://www.vice.com/...
@markwarner Mark Warner on x
For several years I've called on social platforms like Facebook to work with independent researchers whose efforts improve the safety of social platforms by exposing harmful activity. It's clear that Congress must now act to bring more clarity to the world of online advertising. …
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
Should be a good one for Congress to look into.... https://twitter.com/...
@authorpmbarrett Paul M. Barrett on x
.@Facebook's decision to cut off researcher (and NYU colleague) @LauraEdelson2 and the NYU Ad Observatory is cause for concern. We need to know more about political ads on social media. https://www.wsj.com/... via @WSJ
@econliberties @econliberties on x
By shutting down a NYU research study into their targeting of political ads, @Facebook is yet again trying to hide what happens on their platform and avoid accountability. https://www.wsj.com/...
@colorofchange @colorofchange on x
.@Facebook continues to interfere with efforts to surface data and privacy harms & election misinformation, we need a federal data disclosure bill to ensure we can fully protect Black people. Elected leaders owe it to us to protect our digital civil rights. https://twitter.com/..…
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Exactly. Every step of way: -they hired Chancellor 11/15 while Guardian was reporting -buried 12/15 story -threatened press in '16, '17 when close -2/18 false testimony to Parliament -3/18 threatened press ahead of report -3/18 misled public on CNN, Congress -dodged subpoenas htt…
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
woah... this is a new fact that escalates this matter significantly and demands full attention of press, regulators and parliaments. All reports should be updated. https://medium.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@jonathanmayer Jonathan Mayer on x
Outrageous: Facebook is shutting down NYU's independent advertising accountability research, on the pretext that the Federal Trade Commission requires that step. Part of a long-running pattern of obstructing academic research and investigative journalism. https://about.fb.com/...
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
interesting timing on Facebook's move to aggressively shut down a major NYU research program that had been studying its platform https://twitter.com/...
@profcarroll David Carroll on x
Facebook gets to define what “privacy” means in the context of punishing the NYU Political Ad Observatory, concentrating corporate power. It signals to other academics that Facebook shamelessly now wears Cambridge Analytica as a fig leaf.
@brooklynmarie Brooke Binkowski on x
Hahahahahaha. It was going to be this excuse or something else https://twitter.com/...
@lauraedelson2 Laura Edelson on x
including our work measuring vaccine misinformation with the Virality Project and many other partners who rely on our data. The work our team does to make data about disinformation on Facebook transparent is vital to a healthy internet and a healthy democracy. 4/4
@ggreeneva Greg Greene on x
“Facebook says it [shuttered the accounts of watchdogs] for privacy reasons”: yes, FB would prefer to earn profits, while paying no heed to whether its products erode the foundations of liberal society, in private. https://twitter.com/...
@fboversight @fboversight on x
“Outside analysis of Facebook content from essential organizations like the Ad Observatory are increasingly exposing Facebook as a breeding ground for extremism and right-wing trash” a spokesperson for the Real Facebook Oversight Board said @daithaigilbert https://www.vice.com/..…
@granick @granick on x
@EthanZ How do you distinguish the Ad Observatory practice from the user-consent based scraping that Cambridge Analytica did? Does the FTC consent decree make a distinction?
@ethanz Ethan Zuckerman on x
Moving to prevent access like this raises uncomfortable questions about why FB is so opposed to users donating data from their own browsers. If FB is allowed to maintain this stance, it cuts off valuable research efforts that will help us understand mis/disinfo online.
@ethanz Ethan Zuckerman on x
This one's not even a close call. FB is preventing people from voluntarily installing a browser plugin and sharing data on ads they see... info that should be publicly available in FB's ad library. This effort allows researchers to audit if FB is accurately releasing ad data. htt…
@corintxt Corin Faife on x
Thanks to the Citizen Browser project - similar to the now blocked NYU Ad Observatory - our reporting at @themarkup has broken numerous stories about Facebook & led to policy change. None would have been possible with only the data the platform chooses to release. https://twitter…
@benthompson Ben Thompson on x
I wrote about Facebook and the NYU Ad Observatory last year. Was paywalled, free now: https://t.co/mO6SgYR9b4
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
@mathewi @nfmelendez Beyond that, there's a quite technical discussion about precisely what data the NYU app actually scrapes, and what private data for other people might be in that - in particular, the targeting information. The NYU explanation is... incomplete https://adobserv…
@themarkup @themarkup on x
This move is alarming. NYU researchers and the Facebook users who volunteered their data were providing a critical public service. https://twitter.com/...
@suryamattu Surya Mattu on x
Disappointing but unsurprising move by Facebook. Our work continues: https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Super important statement from Jonathan Mayer in this Vice report on Facebook's outrageous move. For those who don't know Mayer, he's been a fierce and brilliant academic in the field of privacy law. If he's making this point then everyone should be listening. https://twitter.com…
@tonyromm Tony Romm on x
Facebook has made a long, well documented habit of trying to stifle oversight particularly in academia, without which many of us on the reporting side could not do our jobs https://twitter.com/...
@jakelaperruque @jakelaperruque on x
Amazing how Facebook finds a way to block data harvesting for important research like this, but has for years been sitting by and doing nothing as Clearview AI scrapes billions of photos from the site to power face recognition surveillance https://twitter.com/...
@mathewi Mathew Ingram on x
This is classic Facebook: Deny researchers access to the data they need to study your behavior, then shut down their accounts when they try to get it some other way, and hide behind privacy rules that you routinely ignore: https://www.wsj.com/...
@ttp_updates @ttp_updates on x
Facebook defended the decision with a blog titled: “Research Cannot Be the Justification for Compromising People's Privacy.” Considering FB's entire business model is to sell as much user info as possible, apparently profit trumps research in its hierarchy of noble causes. https:…
@katestarbird Kate Starbird on x
At a time when society desperately needs mechanisms for independently auditing what's happening w/in soc med platforms — e.g. to understand misinfo & manipulation — Facebook takes a big step in the wrong direction, suspending folks trying to shed light on exploitation via ads. ht…
@mer__edith Meredith Whittaker on x
Dreaming of a collective academic boycott of Facebook play-nice-or-else databases-crowdtangle, Social Science One, etc- + a refusal to platform research based on such. The status quo is warping research + our understanding of tech & its harms. https://twitter.com/...
@profcarroll David Carroll on x
Using Cambridge Analytica as a fig leaf in a bogus blame-the-regulator con job! Meanwhile ClearviewAI (Thiel's panopticon) and Bridgetree (GOP data broker) enjoy their data scraping privileges. https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
“Facebook says it was for privacy reasons” 😂 https://twitter.com/...
@jameeljaffer Jameel Jaffer on x
The greatest trick Facebook ever pulled was convincing people it cares about user privacy. This is an absolutely crucial point: The “users” whose privacy Facebook is trying to protect here are *advertisers.* https://www.protocol.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@justinhendrix Justin Hendrix on x
Not sure if Issie stayed up late or got up early- but a good report on the NYU Ad Observatory. I suppose Facebook adopted the Mitt Romney line? “Corporations are people”... https://twitter.com/...
@stphnmaher Stephen Maher on x
Disturbing precedent. Facebook can exile critics from its space, with serious implications for professional and personal life. https://twitter.com/...
@issielapowsky Issie Lapowsky on x
I'm truly surprised that Facebook thinks it's in their interest to promote this as data collection on non-consenting users. That immediately evokes Cambridge Analytica. At least, it did for me when they told me that. This is so not that. You'd think they'd want to make it clear.
@issielapowsky Issie Lapowsky on x
Facebook tried to use the same argument with me when I wrote this deep dive on the NYU standoff, saying vaguely the NYU team was collecting data without people's consent. When I got to the bottom of it, I found out those people were actually advertisers. https://www.protocol.com/…
@emilygorcenski Emily G on x
This is incredibly rich coming from the company that published a paper in 2016 absolving themselves of any ethical wrongdoing for their unregulated psychological research. https://twitter.com/...

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Mozilla's analysis says Facebook's justifications for cutting off access to researchers running NYU's Ad Observatory project “simply do not hold water”

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