Social media data can be valuable for many kinds of research, yet getting access has become increasingly confusing. APIs have changed, platform policies vary widely, and even publicly visible content can raise legal, ethical, and documentation questions. What is feasible today may not be feasible tomorrow. At the same time, the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) introduces new access pathways for research on certain very large online platforms, leaving many researchers wondering what this means for them. This Data Snack offers a high-level, non-technical overview of the current social media data access landscape in 2026. We will sketch how access routes have evolved until today, unpack recurring obstacles such as changing platform rules, unstable access options, and challenges around documentation and reproducibility. The session then situates the EU DSA within this broader landscape: what it is, for whom it matters, and under what conditions it may enable research access for certain social media platforms. Finally, we will discuss what researchers can do when the DSA is not relevant to their case, and end with a short checklist and an invitation to exchange experiences and questions across disciplines.
Susanne de Vogel (Thu,) studied this question.