A UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR IS LENDING HIS THOUGHTS ABOUT DISINFORMATION TO A CONGRESSINAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE TOPIC.
IT'S PRETTY HARD TO STUDY THE IMPACT OF ONLINE MISINFORMATION WITHOUT GETTING THE NECESSARY DATA FROM SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS LIKE FACEBOOK AND TIKTOK SAYS THE U OF I'S KEVIN LEICHT. HE AND OTHER WITNESSES AT THE HEARING ARE PUSHING FOR RESEARCHERS TO HAVE MORE ACCESS TO ACCURATE DATA AND ALGORITHMS SO THEY CAN OFFER THEIR OWN ANALYSIS.
FOR EXAMPLE, HIS TEAM HAS BEEN STUDYING POSTS REGARDING THE PANDEMIC.
OTHERS TESTIFIED THAT THEY ARE CONSTANTLY BLOCKED BY SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES FROM GETTING DATA FOR THEIR RESEARCH AND HAVE RESORTED TO PAYING FOR ADS TO AT LEAST GAIN SOME TRACKING DATA.