Social Platforms Data Access Taskforce: Final Report. A year of evidence: insights and recommendations on social media data access for research into online harms.

The Social Platforms Data Access Taskforce was established by Smart Data Research UK (SDR UK) to examine how researcher access to social media data could be made more responsible, ethical and secure. Bringing together independent experts from academia, regulation and civil society, the Taskforce has spent the past year gathering evidence on the barriers researchers face and the options available to address them.

This is the Taskforce’s final report, following its earlier interim publication, Social Media Data Access to Reduce Online Harms: A Call for Action (Orben et al., 2026). It draws on extensive engagement with the research community, analysis of the international data access landscape and close engagement with the evolving UK legislative and regulatory framework.

The views, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this report are those of the Social Platforms Data Access Taskforce and do not represent the positions of Smart Data Research UK (SDR UK) or UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

This report represents the view of Taskforce members only and not those of any external advisors or third parties.