DSA researcher data access faces platform delays in Europe
European researchers say TikTok, X and Meta are still making it hard to study platform risks despite EU data-access rules.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
3 min read
DSA researcher data access is becoming a test of whether Europe’s online safety law can give academics a clear view into social media risks. Researchers studying disinformation told WIRED that platforms including TikTok, X and Meta have used denials, restrictive tools and legal fights that slow or block work the EU law was designed to enable.
The issue surfaced sharply around Romania’s presidential election. WIRED reported that TikTok accounts once focused on fashion or manicures began promoting Calin Georgescu, a little-known politician whose posts drew 120 million views before the vote and who won the first round with 23 percent.
Adriana Iamnitchi, chair of computational social sciences at Maastricht University, wanted to examine whether pro-Georgescu material on TikTok was being monetized through undisclosed influencer promotion and livestreamed political content. Iamnitchi wrote that TikTok rejected her team’s request for API access, citing failures to prove researcher status, disclose commercial interests and meet security standards.
What is DSA researcher data access?
The EU’s Digital Services Act lets vetted researchers at qualified institutions seek platform data when their work examines systemic risks, including illegal content, election threats and harms to fundamental rights. In practice, researchers told WIRED that companies have interpreted those rules narrowly and imposed technical requirements many universities cannot meet.
TikTok later said it had flagged 116,000 potentially compromised accounts and acted against more than 27,000 fake accounts in a coordinated network tied to a third-party “fake engagement vendor” promoting Georgescu and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians. TikTok said it did not know who ran the network or where it came from.
Romania’s first-round vote was annulled. In the May 2025 runoff, former Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan defeated AUR’s George Simion after Georgescu was barred from running again. Declassified Romanian intelligence said Georgescu benefited from broad exposure and preferential treatment on TikTok and alleged Russia coordinated the online campaign.
Researchers say the problems go beyond TikTok. Duncan Allen of Democracy Reporting International told WIRED that X’s paid API can cost academics hundreds of dollars a month, while TikTok’s daily caps can make large-scale research impractical. Iamnitchi described gaps in platform data as “black holes” in public knowledge about recommendation systems and content reporting.
Data gathered by the DSA40 Collaboratory, which tracks 46 applications, shows 20 approvals and 14 rejections. Coordinator L. K. Seiling told WIRED that the real rejection rate may be higher because the tracker depends on voluntary reports. The group’s figures show TikTok approved 11 of 13 tracked applications, while X rejected 11 of 23.
Platform responses differ. TikTok told WIRED it has given more than 1,500 research teams access to its tools and approved 130 EU applications in the second half of last year. Meta said its Content Library and API, which replaced CrowdTangle, are its most comprehensive research tools and cover Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp Channels and Threads with privacy protections.
X has faced the most direct enforcement. The European Commission fined X €120 million in December 2025, partly over barriers to researcher access. X appealed in February 2026, calling the investigation incomplete and alleging due-process violations.
The commission recently accepted X’s plan to change researcher screening, provide data free of charge, shorten processing times and lift scraping limits within six months. Allen called the plan a step in the right direction but told WIRED he remains skeptical until X explains how researcher vetting will improve.
The commission has also said Meta and TikTok may have created burdensome procedures that left researchers with partial or unreliable data. It began meeting with platforms in May on a new vetting standard and expanded access rules for nonpublic data, including data tied to illegal content, scams and recommender systems.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.