Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Social media platforms have become increasingly opaque at precisely the moment their influence on society has reached unprecedented levels. Over the long-term, we need to conceptualize true independent transparency as an infrastructure project built on four pillars—government requirements and legal protections, international standards, shared tooling, and sustainable funding. Former CrowdTangle CEO Brandon Silverman argues there is a critical, urgent path forward in the short term: responsible public interest scraping at scale. Join a timely conversation to learn why this path is not without its challenges, particularly given the likelihood of reduced government and industry support in the coming years, but why it also represents our best chance to establish the critical oversight function that democratic societies require.
Social media platforms have become increasingly opaque at precisely the moment their influence on society has reached unprecedented levels. Over the long-term, we need to conceptualize true independent transparency as an infrastructure project built on four pillars—government requirements and legal protections, international standards, shared tooling, and sustainable funding. Former CrowdTangle CEO Brandon Silverman argues there is a critical, urgent path forward in the short term: responsible public interest scraping at scale. Join a timely conversation to learn why this path is not without its challenges, particularly given the likelihood of reduced government and industry support in the coming years, but why it also represents our best chance to establish the critical oversight function that democratic societies require.
