Regulating Twitter Hinges on Data the Platform Keeps Hidden

One of the greatest obstacles to social platform regulation is the lack of data that could help both policymakers and the public understand the platforms’ innate biases. From greater visibility into their moderation and fact-checking efforts to a deeper understanding of the algorithms that determine what goes viral, the lack of hard data on platforms’ internal operations hamstrings attempts to rein in their power. A closer look at Twitter reminds us that we don’t even know the most basic of details, including how many users or posts per day it...