Facebook will let researchers study its election ad targeting data
The data will be readily available through the Facebook Open Research and Transparency (FORT) tool, which the company developed “to allow scholastic researchers to study the impact of Facebooks items on elections [with] measures to protect peoples personal privacy and keep the platform protected.” Scientists need to make an application for FORT access to get their hands on the information.
Facebook is likewise moving 2020 Election Spend Tracker information from its Ad Library to the elections page on February 1st. Anybody can download that info to learn how much presidential, Senate and House candidates invested in Facebook advertisements. Data on aggregate marketing spending for all pages will still be offered through the Ad Library.
In October, Facebook demanded that New York University closed down a political advertisement research study task. Countless volunteers signed up for an NTU Ad Observatory task to utilize an internet browser extension that vacuumed up information about political advertisements Facebook showed to them.