7 November 2025 – The European Fact-Checking Standards Network joined a group of researchers and organisations to request that platforms provide access to data on the most viewed publicly available posts within EU countries on 3 October 2025. The request is made under Art. 40(12) of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines to provide access without undue delay to real–time data that is publicly accessible on their online interface for the purposes of identifying, detecting, and understanding systemic risks pursuant to Art. 34(1) DSA.
Platforms’ response thus far has been disappointing. LinkedIn, YouTube, Meta, and X responded and declined. TikTok says they’re considering it, but their response is already well past the reasonable timeline.
Research has found that most interaction on platforms happens with a small group of content (for example, a study found that about 4% of YouTube videos accounted for 96% of the views in a sample). Thus, this dataset would give significant insight into the content a large number of Europeans see and interact with.
Fulfilling such a request would help researchers and organizations, such as fact-checkers, serve the public through a better understanding of our digital ecosystem, and also help Very Large Platforms and Search Engines (VLOPs) meet their obligation to mitigate systemic risk under the DSA.
Join the petition to demand that platforms — including YouTube, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, and X — share their most-viewed content. Sign here.
