May 19, 2022 Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy sign open letter to compel more data sharing by tech firms Author(s): Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy Credit: Jonah Pettrich for Unsplash Prof. Gina Neff signs letter urging the acceleration of data sharing provisions in the Online Safety Bill. More than 40 charities, online safety campaigners and academics have signed an open letter to Prime Minister and Secretary of State, stating that the Online Safety Bill should empower independently verified researchers and civil society to request tech companies’ data. The letter urges Government to amend the Bill to accelerate the data sharing provisions, mandating Ofcom to provide guidance on how civil society and researchers can access data, not just if they should. This should happen within months and must account for user privacy. The full letter is below: Dear Prime Minister and Secretary of State, For years, we have used data to hold tech companies to account and track the true causes of online harms. Our findings have underpinned the development of the Online Safety Bill, highlighting everything from Russian disinformation operations, to antisemitic conspiracy theories and child grooming. But the data we can access is minimal. Companies get to decide what we see and can revoke access whenever they want. As it stands the Online Safety Bill won’t change this. It was only through the revelations of whistleblower Frances Haugen that we know Meta had data showing Instagram is harmful for teenage mental health. The company buried the findings. The NSPCC and 50+ children’s charities wrote to Meta asking to see the research in full, but the company refused. The family of Molly Russell, the 14-year old who committed suicide after viewing harmful content online, is still waiting for Meta to disclose information relevant to her death. Companies should not decide what evidence of the risks they are responsible for tackling gets made public. The Bill should empower independently verified researchers and civil society to request tech companies’ data. Ofcom should be required to publish guidance as soon as possible (in months, not years) for how this data can be accessed. This safety check will hold these companies to account and make the internet a less divisive, safer space for everyone. This isn’t as hard – or commercially ruinous – as the platforms say it is. The EU has already passed the Digital Services Act, which opens up secretive tech company data to government, academia and civil society to protect internet users. Importantly, this is being done in a way that protects privacy – an approach we know can be replicated in the UK. Academic research and public-private collaborations were key pillars in establishing the UK’s wildly successful cyber security start-up ecosystem. The same can be done with the UK’s Safety Tech Sector, but only if there is greater visibility and understanding of online harms. Without this data, researchers based in the EU will be ahead of those in the UK. Without it, policymaking will be weaker and the UK will not be as safe as it could be. We urge you to amend the Bill to accelerate the data sharing provisions, mandating Ofcom to provide guidance on how civil society and researchers can access data, not just if they should. This should happen within months and must account for user privacy. These changes would mean tech companies can no longer hide in the shadows. Signatories -Frances Haugen, former Facebook employee -Shoshana Zuboff, Charles Edward Wilson Professor Emerita at Harvard Business School -Prof Gina Neff, University of Cambridge Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy -Solomon Elliott, The Student View -Danny Stone, CEO, Antisemitism Policy Trust -Dr Emma L Briant, Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting and Accountability -Ellen Judson, Lead Researcher, CASM at Demos -Kyle Taylor, Director, Fair Vote UK -Poppy Wood, Reset -Will Moy, Chief Executive, Full Fact -William Perrin, Trustee, Carnegie UK -Ava Lee, Digital Threats to Democracy Campaign Leader, Global Witness -Professor Andrew Chadwick, Director, Online Civic Culture Centre, Loughborough University -Dr Amy Orben, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge -Dr Chico Camargo, Institute for Data Science and AI, University of Exeter -Professor Cristian Vaccari, Director of the Centre for Research in Communication and Culture, Loughborough University -Dr Talita Dias, Research Fellow, Jesus College and Oxford Institute for Ethics Law and Armed Conflict, University of Oxford Delphine Halgand-Mishra, Executive Director, The Signals Network -Professor Nigel Gilbert, Director, ESRC Centre for the Evaluation of Complexity Across the Nexus and Professor at the University of Surrey -Professor Nick Bailey, Director, ESRC Urban Big Data Centre, University of Glasgow -Sasha Havlicek, CEO, Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) -Stephen Kinsella, Founder, Clean Up The Internet -Professor Philip Howard, Programme on Democracy and Technology, University of Oxford -Professor Peter Knight, University of Manchester / Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study -Alice Stollmeyer, Executive Director, Defend Democracy -Andrea Simon, Director, The End Violence Against Women Coalition -Sarah Andrew, Legal Director, Avaaz Foundation -Alena Kahle, Stichting the London Story -Dr. Ritumbra Manuvie, University of Groningen -Professor Mark Stuart, Co-Director, ESRC Futures at Work Research Centre, University of Leeds -Dr. Nathalie Maréchal, Policy Director, Ranking Digital Rights -Professor Derek McAuley, Director of Horizon, University of Nottingham -Dr Katharine Dommett, University of Sheffield -Xavier Brandao, President, Je Suis Là -Professor Kalina Bontcheva, University of Sheffield -Dr Marco Bastos, City, University of London -Professor Stuart Macdonald, Director, Cyber Threats Research Centre, Swansea University -Professor Maura Conway, Moriarty Professor of Government and International Studies, Dublin City University and VOX-Pol -Dr. Rebekah Tromble, Director, Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics, George Washington University; Chair, European Digital Media Observatory’s Working Group on Platform-to-Researcher Data Access -Helen Pankhurst, Convenor, Centenary Action Group -Jesse Lehrich, Co-Founder, Accountable Tech -Eva Okunbor, Acting CEO, Glitch -Lynn Perry MBE, CEO, Barnardo’s -Sir Peter Wanless, Chief Executive, NSPCC