Researchers rely on access to public information to conduct studies that inform policy and enhance societal understanding. The definition of what qualifies as public information will vary across contexts and time, but societies should protect those working with such data.
Independent monitoring is crucial to detect and address potential abuses, biases, or harmful practices within digital platforms. Evaluating firm operations transparently helps maintain accountability and trust among users and stakeholders.
Data sharing between firms and researchers increases transparency and accountability, enables a deeper understanding of digital ecosystems, and can foster innovation. Data sharing and collaboration on equal footing can lead to the development of tools and insights that benefit society, such as improved algorithms for detecting illegal content.
Blocking research undermines the scientific process and prevents the dissemination of critical findings that could inform public debate and policy. Ensuring that findings are published, regardless of corporate interests, supports the integrity and progress of scientific inquiry.
Universities and journals must establish robust legal support systems to defend researchers against potential lawsuits and other legal challenges. By doing so, they create a safe environment for academic freedom and the pursuit of knowledge without fear of retribution.
The community must develop clear, enforceable guidelines covering many areas: from the protection of the data and subjects involved in the research to ensuring the information collected is archivable and reproducible, allowing longitudinal studies that can track changes and trends over time (among others). To preserve integrity, researchers should not accept firm attempts to engage in pre-publication review or to exercise editorial control and must avoid and properly disclose conflicts of interest.
These principles, individually or in combination, apply broadly to a variety of data sources, including web-scraped data, data gathered through collaborations with companies, data obtained from the government through freedom of information laws, or primary data collected through other means (e.g. sensors, apps, etc.).
At the conference "Mapping and Governing the Online World," held in Ascona, Switzerland, an international and interdisciplinary group of researchers discussed the trade-offs and challenges associated with data access for empirical research on the digital economy. Our discussions focused on the legal, ethical, and practical barriers to accessing data for reproducible academic research, and the responsibilities of various stakeholders, including governments, platforms, universities, and journals.