Other research tools and data catalogue

UPDATED OCT 29, 2025

Datasets that empower researchers to study the political, economic and social impact of our platforms

Instagram Data Access Pilot for Well-being Research

Meta is partnering with the Center for Open Science (COS) on a pilot program to share certain privacy-preserving social media data with select researchers to study topics related to the well-being of teens and young adults. This pilot program will use research processes that have been popularized in the open science movement, such as pre-registration and early peer review. Meta will not select the researchers or provide input on their research questions, and we’ve set up this pilot program with COS based on the Registered Reports publishing process to ensure research independence, transparency, and scientific integrity.

Meta is also partnering with the Secure Data Access Center’s (Le Centre d’Accès Sécurisé aux Données, “CASD”) to provide selected pilot researchers with access to their secure and user-friendly cleanroom environment to analyze the consented and authorized Instagram data of their study sample. Learn more on the COS website here.

US 2020 Facebook and Instagram Election Study

The US 2020 Facebook and Instagram Election Study is a partnership between Meta and academic researchers to understand the impact of Facebook and Instagram on key political attitudes and behaviors during the US 2020 election. The collaboration is designed to yield objective, empirically grounded research that will be shared transparently with the public.

The first 4 papers resulting from this publication were published in Science and Nature in July 2023. Data from published papers is available through the University of Michigan’s Social Media Archive (SOMAR) for other researchers to run their own analyses and check the validity of the findings.

Learn more

Data for Good

Data for Good leverages Meta’s data, technology and talent to make progress on major social issues. Partners use our maps and survey tools to increase immunization rates in communities, respond to natural disasters, and empower women-led businesses. Researchers deploy these maps and survey tools to study climate change, crisis events and social capital.

Data for Good partners with hundreds of organizations across every continent, including universities, non-profit organizations and international institutions. Many of our data products are publicly available while others are controlled access for non-profits and researchers. Request access and learn more about our datasets.

Additional Information related to EU Digital Services Act, Article 40 -

Under DSA Art. 40(4)-(11), Meta is required to provide access to certain data related to systemic risks in the EU to researchers that have been vetted and certified by the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment. Meta may periodically update this data catalogue.

Point of Contact: openresearch@meta.com

EU Data Access Portal: https://data-access.dsa.ec.europa.eu/home

Virtual cleanrooms are a standard industry practice that include data security protections, enforce purpose limitations, and protect user confidentiality through strict import and export controls. We recommend Meta’s virtual cleanroom environments to enable secure and privacy compliant access to data. They also allow Meta to expand the range of data accessible to researchers through existing data products where feasible and valuable, enabling faster and easier access.