Facebook threatens nonprofit studying Instagram's algorithm, Researchers shut down project fearing legal action: Over fear of legal repercussions the German-based nonprofit research and advocacy firm known as AlgorithmWatch has shut down its project meant to help better understand the way Facebook-owned Instagram prioritizes content using its algorithm. The project had been ongoing for over a year. In a press release, the research firm indicated that Facebook had offered a "thinly veiled threat" during a requested meeting with the nonprofit in early May 2021. In the meeting Facebook reportedly told AlgorithmWatch that its project "breached their terms of service" and that it would have to "mov[e] to more formal engagement" if the research nonprofit did not "resolve the issue." The research project included "a browser add-on that scraped [user's] Instagram newsfeeds," according to the company's press release about the project's abrupt end. "Over the last 14 months, about 1,500 volunteers installed the add-on," added AlgorithmWatch. "With their data, we were able to show that Instagram likely encouraged content creators to post pictures that fit specific representations of their body, and that politicians were likely to reach a larger audience if they abstained from using text in their publications (Facebook denied both claims). Although we could not conduct a precise audit of Instagram’s algorithm, this research is among the most advanced studies ever conducted on the platform. The project was supported by the European Data Journalism Network and by the Dutch foundation SIDN. It was done in partnership with Mediapart in France, NOS, Groene Amsterdammer and Pointer in the Netherlands, Süddeutsche Zeitung in Germany and was covered by dozens of news outlets over the world."