‘Information Pressures’ and the Facebook Files

Navigating Questions around Leaked Platform Data

Bibliographic Data

ID22010988
AuthorsRebekah Larsen (0000-0002-0884-6217, OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume10
Issue9
Pages1591-1603
Publication date2022-10-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDigital Journalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2167-0811 • E-ISSN: 2167-082X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/21670811.2022.2087099
OpenAlexW4288084339
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited17

Recently leaked Facebook data included material from the platform’s internal social science research units. Given its character—and the likelihood of future whistleblowing—this case presents an opportunity for reflection on current and future academic engagement with leaked data. This contribution is grounded in the experiences of some members of a small, international team of journalism scholars, after being offered access to the leaked data by a media organization. It also describes other academic-involved initiatives—their similarities, differences, and efforts—working toward expanded access to and/or usage of this data. Rather than take a general or hardline stance on use of leaked data, this contribution emphasizes critical engagement—ethical, legal, practical—with the particulars of individual leaks. It also emphasizes the need for guidelines and mechanisms for working with leaked data, and the concomitant importance of transparency within academia about current practices. Such critical engagement should also include consideration of the positionalities, divisions, and marginalities of involved researchers and regions

Data science · Internet privacy · Political science · Public relations · Social media · Sociology · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Data Analysis and Archiving · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI · Law · Misinformation and Its Impacts

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